Transparent Conductive Films Based on Silver Nanowires and SiO<sub>2</sub> Nanoparticles for Flexible Electronics
Fangrong Guan, Hui He, Qunyang Li, Yue Shen, Fan Kang, Cheng Zhang, Hongyu Zhai
Abstract
Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are becoming ideal materials for preparing flexible transparent conductive films (TCFs) due to their excellent properties. The high stability of AgNW-based TCFs is promising yet remains challenging. Herein, a simple and efficient interface assembly strategy is introduced via the top-down spray transfer assembly to enhance interface bonding, resulting in semiembedded TCFs using high-aspect-ratio AgNWs and monodisperse nanosilica microspheres (SiO 2 NPs) with the help of a thiol-ene click-based polyurethane acrylate (PUA) optical coating. The organic–inorganic composite antireflection film composed of SiO 2 NPs and PUA coating solves the problem of poor adhesion and uneven distribution of AgNWs on the substrate by electrostatic adsorption. The addition of SiO 2 NPs was shown to improve the connectivity of AgNWs, thus achieving high transparency and sheet resistance at lower AgNWs spray rates (sheet resistance of 13.4 Ω/sq, light transmittance of 93.9%). Indeed, the TCFs introduced in this study outperform the majority of existing metal oxide or AgNW-based TCFs, retaining the flexibility of AgNWs while possessing the high adhesion, stability, and conductivity uniformity of metal oxide-based TCFs. They are expected to replace traditional metal oxide nanoconductive materials with high brittleness and cost, playing a pivotal role in devices such as flexible displays.