CuCl₂-Mediated Synthesis of Silver Nanowires for Flexible Transparent Conducting Films

Abstract

Silver nanowires (Ag) were successfully synthesized by a copper chloride (CuCl2)-mediated polyol method at 155oC. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray diffraction were employed to investigate the morphology and structure of the Ag products, respectively. Without CuCl2, mostly nanoparticles were formed. On the other hand, Ag nanowires with an average length of about 18.8 m and an average diameter of about 96.3 nm were formed after addition of 1.6 M of CuCl2. This suggests that the morphology of the Ag nanowire can be tailored by varying the amount of CuCl2. Ag nanowire suspension in ethanol was evenly coated on cellulose acetate substrates using Meyer rod coating. The electrodes were annealed at 150°C for 30 min to remove the organic materials on the surface of the nanowires. A sheet resistance of <50 ohms/sq with an optical transmittance of 80% at 550nm was obtained for an electrode with a nanowire density of 0.1 mg/cm2.