Silver nanowires have attracted much attention for use in flexible transparent conductive films (TCFs) due to their low sheet resistance and flexibility. However, the haze was too high for replacing indium-tin-oxide in high-quality display devices. Herein, we report flexible TCFs, which were prepared using a scalable bar-coating method, with a low sheet resistance (24.1 Ω/sq at 96.4% transmittance) and a haze (1.04%) that is comparable to that of indium-tin-oxide TCFs. To decrease the haze and maintain a low sheet resistance, small diameter silver nanowires (~20 nm) were functionalized with low-temperature surface-sintering silver nanoparticles (~5 nm) using bifunctional cysteamine. The silver nanowire-nanoparticle ink stability was excellent. The sheet resistance of the TCFs was decreased by 29.5% (from 34.2 to 24.1 Ω/sq) due to the functionalization at a low curing temperature of 85 °C. The TCFs were highly flexible and maintained their stability for more than 2 months and 10,000 bending cycles after coating with a protective layer.

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Copper (Cu) nanoparticles (NPs) have received extensive interest owing to their advantageous properties compared with their bulk counterparts. Although the natural oxidation of Cu NPs can be alleviated by passivating the surfaces with additional moieties, obtaining non-oxidized bare Cu NPs in air remains challenging. Here we report that bare Cu NPs with surface excess electrons retain their non-oxidized state over several months in ambient air. Cu NPs grown on an electride support with excellent electron transfer ability are encapsulated by the surface-accumulated excess electrons, exhibiting an ultralow work function of ~3.2 eV. Atomic-scale structural and chemical analyses confirm the absence of Cu oxide moiety at the outermost surface of air-exposed bare Cu NPs. Theoretical energetics clarify that the surface-accumulated excess electrons suppress the oxygen adsorption and consequently prohibit the infiltration of oxygen into the Cu lattice, provoking the endothermic reaction for oxidation process. Our results will further stimulate the practical use of metal NPs in versatile applications.

Soft conductive materials should enable large deformation while keeping high electrical conductivity and elasticity. The graphene oxide (GO)-based sponge is a potential candidate to endow large deformation. However, it typically exhibits low conductivity and elasticity. Here, the highly conductive and elastic sponge composed of GO, flower-shaped silver nanoparticles (AgNFs), and polyimide (GO-AgNF-PI sponge) are demonstrated. The average pore size and porosity are 114 µm and 94.7%, respectively. Ag NFs have thin petals (8-20 nm) protruding out of the surface of a spherical bud (300-350 nm) significantly enhancing the specific surface area (2.83 m g ). The electrical conductivity (0.306 S m at 0% strain) of the GO-AgNF-PI sponge is increased by more than an order of magnitude with the addition of Ag NFs. A nearly perfect elasticity is obtained over a wide compressive strain range (0-90%). The strain-dependent, nonlinear variation of Young's modulus of the sponge provides a unique opportunity as a variable stiffness stress sensor that operates over a wide stress range (0-10 kPa) with a high maximum sensitivity (0.572 kPa ). It allows grasping of a soft rose and a hard bottle, with the minimal object deformation, when attached on the finger of a robot gripper.

Nanocomposite fibers, composed of conductive nanoparticles and polymer matrix, are crucial for wearable electronics. However, the nanoparticle mixing approach results in aggregation and dispersion problems. A revolutionary synthesis method by premixing silver precursor ions (silver ammonium acetate) with polyvinyl alcohol is reported here. The solvation of ions‐prevented aggregation, and uniformly distributed silver nanoparticles (in situ AgNPs, 77 nm) are formed after thermal reduction (155 °C) without using additional reducing or dispersion agents. The conductive fiber is synthesized by the wet spinning technology. After careful optimization, flower‐shaped silver nanoparticles (AgNFs, 350–450 nm) are also employed as cofillers. The addition of in situ AgNPs (9.5 vol%) to AgNFs (30 vol%) increases electrical conductivity by 1434% (2090 to 32 064 S cm−1) through the efficient construction of percolation networks. The in situ AgNPs provide significantly higher conductivity compared with other secondary nanoparticle fillers. The gaseous byproducts dramatically increase flexibility with a moderate compromise in tensile strength (55 MPa). The particle‐free ion‐level uniform mixing of silver precursors, followed by in situ reduction, would be a fundamental paradigm shift in nanocomposite synthesis.