A rapid synthesis of high aspect ratio silver nanowires for high-performance transparent electrodes

A rapid, simple and cost-effective polyol method has been developed for the synthesis of silver nanowires with high aspect ratio and high purity. The aspect ratios of the silver nanowires as high as ca. 1000 (average length 40 μm and some even as long as 80 μm, diameter 50-100 nm) were obtained via optimizing the reaction conditions. Transparent electrodes with excellent optoelectronic performances (optical transmittance of 90%, sheet resistance of 23.2 Ω/□ and optical transmittance of 87%, sheet resistance of 19.7 Ω/□) comparable to commercial ITO were fabricated via simple spin coating the resulting silver nanowires onto the glass substrates. The high optoelectronic performances and the facile all-solution process of the as-prepared transparent electrodes render them rather promising candidates for use in cost-effective large-area optoelectronic devices. Silver nanowires with high aspect ratio and high purity were prepared via a rapid, simple and cost-effective polyol method. The aspect ratios of the silver nanowires were as high as ca. 1000 (average length 40 μm and some even as long as 80 μm, diameter 50-100 nm) via optimizing the reaction conditions. Transparent electrodes with superior optoelectronic performances (optical transmittance of 90%, sheet resistance of 23.2 Ω/□ and optical transmittance of 87%, sheet resistance of 19.7 Ω/□) comparable to commercial ITO were fabricated via spin coating the resulting silver nanowires onto the glass substrates. The high optoelectronic performances and the all-solution process of the as-prepared transparent electrodes render them rather promising for applications in cost-effective large-area optoelectronic devices.