Facile Synthesis of Highly Oxidation Stable Nanosilver-Coated Copper Nanowires for Transparent Flexible Electrodes

This study reports an efficient electroless plating approach using an amino-alcohol precursor to synthesize the oxidation stable copper@silver (Cu@Ag) core-shell nanowires. The synthesized nanowires were characterized by different techniques. The as-synthesized nanowires were used to fabricate transparent flexible electrodes (TFEs) and transparent stretchable heaters (TSHs). The nanowire network on the substrates was sintered using the 5% aqueous solution of H2O2, which welded the nanowires at their junction and strongly attached to the substrate. Therefore, the optical-electrical performance (similar to 13 Omega sq(-1) @ 89% transmittance), oxidation stability, and mechanical flexibility of asprepared TFEs and TSHs were improved to a large extent. In addition, the performance of the TSHs in terms of high-saturation temperature and stability against repeated stretching cycles upon 20% mechanical strain temperature are also enhanced. The overall processing strategy was suitable to synthesize the Cu@Ag core-shell nanowires and to fabricate the stable TFEs and TSHs for modern electronic and thermoelectric devices.

Automated summary

This study presents an efficient electroless plating method for synthesizing oxidation stable copper@silver core-shell nanowires, which were further used to fabricate transparent flexible electrodes and transparent stretchable heaters. The sintering process significantly improved the optical-electrical performance, oxidation stability, and mechanical flexibility of the fabricated TFEs and TSHs. Additionally, the high-saturation temperature and stability against repeated stretching cycles of the TSHs were enhanced.