Conductive films that are highly transparent and flexible are extremely attractive for emerging optoelectronic applications. Currently, indium‐doped tin oxide films are the most widely used transparent conductive films and much research effort is devoted to developing alternative transparent conductive materials to overcome their drawbacks. In this work, a novel and facile approach for fabricating transparent conductive Au nanosheets from Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) is proposed. Irradiating an AuNP monolayer at the air–water interface with UV light results in a nanosheet with ≈3.5 nm thickness and ≈80% transparency in the UV–visible region. Further, the so‐fabricated nanosheets are highly flexible and can maintain their electrical conductivity even when they are bent to a radius of curvature of 0.6 mm. Fourier‐transform infrared and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations reveal that the transformation of the monolayer of AuNPs into the nanosheet is induced by the photodecomposition and/or photodetachment of the dodecanethiol ligands capping the AuNPs. Further, the UV‐irradiation of a hybrid monolayer consisting of AuNPs and silica particles affords the patterning of Au nanosheets with periodic hole arrays.

Flexible and transparent conductive electrodes are fundamental components used in advanced optical and electronic devices and organic electronics. In this work, we demonstrated a method for fabricating transparent conductive electrodes of Au nanosheets using UV irradiation on Au nanoparticle (AuNP) monolayer on water. The adsorbed AuNP monolayer was formed from the electrostatic attractive force between the anionic capping molecules on AuNPs dispersed in water with a cationic insoluble surfactant monolayer on water. UV irradiation promoted the decomposition of the surfactant deposited on the AuNPs, thereby transforming the AuNPs into mesh-like nanosheets that served as flexible and transparent conducting electrodes. The AuNP dispersions were also proven to be reusable in preparing conductive Au nanosheets for transparent flexible electrodes.

UV irradiation of Ag NPs spreading on water results in the formation of large Ag NPs, but the solubilization of adequate additives in water, such as EDTA and PVP, leads to conversion to a transparent conductive film.

No abstract