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Recently, flexible transparent electrodes have been fabricated successfully by using silver and copper nanowires. Silver is expensive and scarce, while copper is inexpensive but it requires a complex post-treatment process to obtain copper nanowire electrodes with an equivalent performance. In this study, by using polyvinylpyrrolidone-based ink and ultralong copper nanowires, a simple and low-cost approach has been presented for the fabrication of excellent copper nanowire-based flexible transparent electrodes. When ultrahigh aspect ratio copper nanowires and 0.5 wt % polyvinylpyrrolidone-based ink are applied to coat onto a substrate, the post-treatment process can be simplified to dipping once in acetic acid for 60 s. When compared to previously reported studies, our copper nanowire electrodes proved to be one of the best quality transparent electrodes. Moreover, these electrodes were applied successfully in the fabrication of self-capacitance button touch sensors.

Copper nanowires have shown promise for use in next-generation conducting materials for transparent electrodes owing to their low sheet resistance, natural abundance, and high transmittance properties. Additionally, copper nanowires can be easily synthesized via low-cost solution-based processes. However, copper requires a uniform film to coat the nanowires on the substrate and removing film former residue in the post-treatment process remains a challenge. This lead to the high cost and complexity of fabricating transparent electrode. In this study, we demonstrate a simple, time-saving production method using a combination of laser irradiation and acid dipping to fabricate high-quality copper nanowire transparent electrodes. Preparation of electrodes was achieved by scanning pulsed laser on a copper nanowire film and then dipping in glacial acetic acid. The electrode exhibited excellent properties and the film former was totally erased from the electrode surface. Moreover, to demonstrate their capability, the as-fabricated electrodes were applied in touch-sensor fabrication.

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