Silver Nanorings Fabricated by Glycerol-Based Cosolvent Polyol Method

Electrical conductance of two-dimensional random percolating networks based on mixtures of nanowires and nanorings: A mean-field approach along with computer simulation

We have studied the electrical conductance of two-dimensional (2D) random percolating networks of zero-width metallic nanowires (a mixture of rings and sticks). We took into account the nanowire resistance per unit length and the junction (nanowire-nanowire contact) resistance. Using a mean-field approximation (MFA) approach, we derived the total electrical conductance of these nanowire-based networks as a function of their geometrical and physical parameters. The MFA predictions have been confirmed by our Monte Carlo (MC) numerical simulations. The MC simulations were focused on the case when the circumferences of the rings and the lengths of the wires were equal. In this case, the electrical conductance of the network was found to be almost insensitive to the relative proportions of the rings and sticks, provided that the wire resistance and the junction resistance were equal. When the junction resistance dominated over the wire resistance, a linear dependency of the electrical conductance of the network on the proportions of the rings and sticks was observed.

High-Stability Silver Nanowire-Al2O3 Composite Flexible Transparent Electrodes Prepared by Electrodeposition

Silver nanowire (AgNW) conductive film fabricated by solution processing was investigated as an alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO) in flexible transparent electrodes. In this paper, we studied a facile and effective method by electrodepositing Al₂O₃ on the surface of AgNWs. As a result, flexible transparent electrodes with improved stability could be obtained by electrodepositing Al₂O₃. It was found that, as the annealing temperature rises, the Al₂O₃ coating layer can be transformed from Al₂O₃·H₂O into a denser amorphous state at 150 °C. By studying the increase of electrodeposition temperature, it was observed that the transmittance of the AgNW-Al₂O₃ composite films first rose to the maximum at 70 °C and then decreased. With the increase of the electrodeposition time, the figure of merit (FoM) of the composite films increased and reached the maximum when the time was 40 s. Through optimizing the experimental parameters, a high-stability AgNW flexible transparent electrode using polyimide (PI) as a substrate was prepared without sacrificing optical and electrical performance by electrodepositing at -1.1 V and 70 °C for 40 s with 0.1 mol/L Al(NO₃)₃ as the electrolyte, which can withstand a high temperature of 250 °C or 250,000 bending cycles with a bending radius of 4 mm.