scholarly journals Silver Nanowire Networks: Mechano-Electric Properties and Applications

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiesang Sohn ◽  
Chulhwan Park ◽  
Jong-Min Oh ◽  
Sang Wook Kang ◽  
Mi-Jeong Kim

With increasing technological demand for portable electronic and photovoltaic devices, it has become critical to ensure the electrical and mechano-electric reliability of electrodes in such devices. However, the limited flexibility and high processing costs of traditional electrodes based on indium tin oxide undermine their application in flexible devices. Among various alternative materials for flexible electrodes, such as metallic/carbon nanowires or meshes, silver nanowire (Ag NW) networks are regarded as promising candidates owing to their excellent electrical, optical, and mechano-electric properties. In this context, there have been tremendous studies on the physico-chemical and mechano-electric properties of Ag NW networks. At the same time, it has been a crucial job to maximize the device performance (or their mechano-electric performance) by reconciliation of various properties. This review discusses the properties and device applications of Ag NW networks under dynamic motion by focusing on notable findings and cases in the recent literature. Initially, we introduce the fabrication (deposition process) of Ag NW network-based electrodes from solution-based coating processes (drop casting, spray coating, spin coating, etc.) to commercial processes (slot-die and roll-to-roll coating). We also discuss the electrical/optical properties of Ag NW networks, which are governed by percolation, and their electrical contacts. Second, the mechano-electric properties of Ag NW networks are reviewed by describing individual and combined properties of NW networks with dynamic motion under cyclic loading. The improved mechano-electric properties of Ag NW network-based flexible electrodes are also discussed by presenting various approaches, including post-treatment and hybridization. Third, various Ag NW-based flexible devices (electronic and optoelectronic devices) are introduced by discussing their operation principles, performance, and challenges. Finally, we offer remarks on the challenges facing the current studies and discuss the direction of research in this field, as well as forthcoming issues to be overcome to achieve integration into commercial devices.

Nanomaterials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Mock ◽  
Marco Bobinger ◽  
Christian Bogner ◽  
Paolo Lugli ◽  
Markus Becherer

Copper nanowires (CuNWs) have increasingly become subjected to academic and industrial research, which is attributed to their good performance as a transparent electrode (TE) material that competes with the one of indium tin oxide (ITO). Recently, an environmentally friendly and aqueous synthesis of CuNWs was demonstrated, without the use of hydrazine that is known for its unfavorable properties. In this work, we extend the current knowledge for the aqueous synthesis of CuNWs by studying their up-scaling potential. This potential is an important aspect for the commercialization and further development of CuNW-based devices. Due to the scalability and homogeneity of the deposition process, spray coating was selected to produce films with a low sheet resistance of 7.6 Ω/sq. and an optical transmittance of 77%, at a wavelength of 550 nm. Further, we present a comprehensive investigation of the degradation of CuNWs when subjected to different environmental stresses such as the exposure to ambient air, elevated temperatures, high electrical currents, moisture or ultraviolet (UV) light. For the oxidation process, a model is derived to describe the dependence of the breakdown time with the temperature and the initial resistance. Finally, polymer coatings made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), as well as oxide coatings composed of electron beam evaporated silicon dioxide (SiO2) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) are tested to hinder the oxidation of the CuNW films under current flow.


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 671
Author(s):  
Lipeng Zhou ◽  
Yuehui Hu ◽  
Hao Gao ◽  
Youliang Gao ◽  
Wenjun Zhu ◽  
...  

Silver nanowire (AgNWs) transparent conductive film (TCF) is considered to be the most favorable material to replace indium tin oxide (ITO) as the next-generation transparent conductive film. However, the disadvantages of AgNWs, such as easy oxidation and high wire-wire junction resistance, dramatically limit its commercial application. In this paper, moisture treatment was adopted, and water was dripped on the surface of AgNWs film or breathed on the surface so that the surface was covered with a layer of water vapor. The morphology of silver nanowire mesh nodes is complex, and the curvature is large. According to the capillary condensation theory, water molecules preferentially condense near the geometric surface with significant curvature. The capillary force is generated, making the wire-wire junction of AgNWs mesh bond tightly, resulting in good ohmic contact. The experimental results show that AgNWs-TCF treated by moisture has better conductivity, with an average sheet resistance of 20 Ω/sq and more uniform electrical properties. The bending test and adhesion test showed that AgNWs-TCF treated by moisture still exhibited good mechanical bending resistance and environmental stability.


Author(s):  
Y. Yang ◽  
J. Y. Chang ◽  
L. P. Wang

The photon transport and energy conversion of a near-field thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system with a selective emitter composed of alternate tungsten and alumina layers and a photovoltaic cell sandwiched by electrical contacts are theoretically investigated in this paper. Fluctuational electrodynamics along with the dyadic Green’s function for a multilayered structure is applied to calculate the spectral heat flux, and photocurrent generation and electrical power output are solved from the photon-coupled charge transport equations. The tungsten and alumina layer thicknesses are optimized to match the spectral heat flux with the bandgap of TPV cell. The spectral heat flux is much enhanced when plain tungsten emitter is replaced with the multilayer emitter due to the mechanism of surface plasmon polariton coupling in the tungsten thin film. In addition, the invalidity of effective medium theory to predict photon transport in the near field with multilayer emitters is discussed. Effects of a gold back reflector and indium tin oxide front coating with nanometer thickness, which could practically act as the electrodes to collect the photon-generated charges on the TPV cell, are explored. Conversion efficiency of 23.7% and electrical power output of 0.31 MW/m2 are achieved at 100 nm vacuum gap when the emitter and receiver are respectively at temperatures of 2000 K and 300 K.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 757
Author(s):  
Ohchan Kwon ◽  
Yunkyu Choi ◽  
Eunji Choi ◽  
Minsu Kim ◽  
Yun Chul Woo ◽  
...  

Graphene oxide (GO) has been a prized material for fabricating separation membranes due to its immense potential and unique chemistry. Despite the academic focus on GO, the adoption of GO membranes in industry remains elusive. One of the challenges at hand for commercializing GO membranes lies with large-scale production techniques. Fortunately, emerging studies have acknowledged this issue, where many have aimed to deliver insights into scalable approaches showing potential to be employed in the commercial domain. The current review highlights eight physical methods for GO membrane fabrication. Based on batch-unit or continuous fabrication, we have further classified the techniques into five small-scale (vacuum filtration, pressure-assisted filtration, spin coating, dip coating, drop-casting) and three large-scale (spray coating, bar/doctor blade coating, slot die coating) approaches. The continuous nature of the large-scale approach implies that the GO membranes prepared by this method are less restricted by the equipment’s dimensions but rather the availability of the material, whereas membranes yielded by small-scale methods are predominately limited by the size of the fabrication device. The current review aims to serve as an initial reference to provide a technical overview of preparing GO membranes. We further aim to shift the focus of the audience towards scalable processes and their prospect, which will facilitate the commercialization of GO membranes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 4680-4684
Author(s):  
Dae-Hyeon Kwon ◽  
Jaebum Jeong ◽  
Yongju Lee ◽  
Jun-Kyu Park ◽  
Suwoong Lee ◽  
...  

Flexible triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted much attention because of its environmentally friendly, practical, and cost-producing advantages. In flexible TENGs, it is important to study the flexible electrodes in order to fabricate the fully flexible devices. Here, we compared electrical characteristics of the sponge porous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based flexible TENGs with two types of flexible electrodes, copper and carbon nanotube (CNT)-PDMS electrodes. The output voltage and maximum power density of sponge PDMS-based flexible TENGs with copper and CNTPDMS electrodes were compared. The voltage and power density of sponge PDMS-based flexible TENGs with CNT-PDMS electrodes were improved compare to those with copper electrodes. The output voltage and the maximum power density of sponge PDMS-based flexible TENGs with copper and CNT-PDMS electrodes increased 4 times and 7 times, respectively. It is attributed to higher electrical conductivity and stably flow electricity of CNT than those of copper.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chongsei Yoon ◽  
Buil Jeon ◽  
Giwan Yoon

In this paper, we present a study of various ZnO/SiO2-stacked thin film structures for flexible micro-energy harvesting devices. Two groups of micro-energy harvesting devices, SiO2/ZnO/SiO2 micro-energy generators (SZS-MGs) and ZnO/SiO2/ZnO micro-energy generators (ZSZ-MGs), were fabricated by stacking both SiO2 and ZnO thin films, and the resulting devices were characterized. With a particular interest in the fabrication of flexible devices, all the ZnO and SiO2 thin films were deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrates using a radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique. The effects of the thickness and/or position of the SiO2 films on the device performance were investigated by observing the variations of output voltage in comparison with that of a control sample. As a result, compared to the ZnO single-layer device, all the ZSZ-MGs showed much better output voltages, while all the SZS-MG showed only slightly better output voltages. Among the ZSZ-MGs, the highest output voltages were obtained from the ZSZ-MGs where the SiO2 thin films were deposited using a deposition power of 150 W. Overall, the device performance seems to depend significantly on the position as well as the thickness of the SiO2 thin films in the ZnO/SiO2-stacked multilayer structures, in addition to the processing conditions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 92 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 867-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ishwor Khatri ◽  
Qiming Liu ◽  
Ryo Ishikawa ◽  
Keiji Ueno ◽  
Hajime Shirai

We prepare transparent, selfassembled polygonal silver nanowire (AgNW) mesh by bubble template and use as top electrode for a poly (3,4ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(stylenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)/n-Si hybrid solar cell. Devices were fabricated by pressing the self-assembled AgNW and ITO electrodes onto the surface of the PEDOT:PSS and device performances were compared. In identical transmittances of ITO and self-assembled AgNW (i.e., 87% transmittance at wavelength of 550 nm), the self-assembled AgNW mesh electrodes shows lower sheet resistance (8 Ω/square) with enhanced transparency in the ultraviolet and infrared regions. As a result, a device performance with an efficiency of 9.60% was obtained with the self-assembled electrode compared to 9.07% efficiency from the indium–tin oxide (ITO) electrode under 100 mW/cm2 of AM 1.5 illumination. This study suggests the potential application of a self-assembled AgNW electrode as the transparent conducting electrode for future optoelectronic devices.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donggyun Kim ◽  
Sung-Hoon Kim ◽  
Jong Hak Kim ◽  
Jae-Chul Lee ◽  
Jae-Pyoung Ahn ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 2100808
Author(s):  
Inge Verboven ◽  
Joao Silvano ◽  
Ken Elen ◽  
Hilde Pellaers ◽  
Bart Ruttens ◽  
...  

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