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

Abstract

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.

Fully Solution-Based AgNW/AlOx Nanocomposites for Stable Transparent Heaters

“…13 However, only a few studies have been reported so far on the encapsulation of AgNW-based TE with AlO x layers, using atomic layer deposition (ALD), 14,15 physical vapor deposition (PVD), 16 or electrodeposition to deposit the coating. 17 In these works, the optimal AlO x thicknesses were <5 nm. Although they all retained the high optical transmittance (≥85%) and flexibility of AgNW networks, the sheet resistance of the obtained AgNW/AlO x nanocomposites substantially increased to values between 20 and 50 Ω/sq.…”

“…Metal oxide thin-film coatings have proven to be an effective barrier to protect AgNW networks and enhance their performance. , Among them, aluminum oxide (AlO x ) thin films have gained considerable interest in recent years as protective and anticorrosion coatings . However, only a few studies have been reported so far on the encapsulation of AgNW-based TE with AlO x layers, using atomic layer deposition (ALD), , physical vapor deposition (PVD), or electrodeposition to deposit the coating . In these works, the optimal AlO x thicknesses were <5 nm.…”

“…Although they all retained the high optical transmittance (≥85%) and flexibility of AgNW networks, the sheet resistance of the obtained AgNW/AlO x nanocomposites substantially increased to values between 20 and 50 Ω/sq. The protective AlO x coatings achieved an important improvement of the stability under thermal and/or environmental stress, i.e., when heated up to 250 °C , or 380 °C, and during long-term humidity up to 85%. ,, However, these studies do not present detailed results related to the stability improvement upon electrical stress, which is crucial for the long-term performance of the devices.…”