Role of polyvinylpyrrolidone bound on silver nanowire surface: Balancing among electrical conductance, sulfuration resistance, and flexibility

The electrical conductivity of silver nanowires (AgNWs) deposited on two types of flexible plastic sheets was traced while being bent at 1 mm radius of curvature, which led to a suggestion of a possible role of surface-bound PVP as a glue, but also to a suggestion of weak glue to bind AgNWs to a sheet as preferred for bending durability. Ar plasma bombardment successfully partially removed the surface-bound insulator PVP, leading to better electrical conductivity. It also suppressed the Rayleigh-Plateau instability of AgNWs well above 300 degrees C, which has the practical importance of enabling thermal treatment above 300 degrees C in the atmosphere. PVP proved to endow AgNWs with the antisulfuration and -oxidation resistance against two weeks' exposure to ambient conditions, even after partial removal of PVP by Ar plasma bombardment. (C) 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim