Facile synthesis of silver-nanobeadwire transparent conductive film by organic-precursor paint reduction

A new facile process has been developed to synthesize silver nanowire transparent conductive films by reducing high-aspect-ratio, needle-shaped silver carboxylates, prepared as the precursor, while retaining their morphology. Nanowire precursors are simply obtained by ultrasound irradiation when silver (I) oxide and carboxylic acids are used as starting materials. The aspect ratio of the precursors is increased when the ultrasound irradiation is followed by microwave irradiation. Silver nanowires can be easily obtained by reducing these precursors with hydrazine gas or irradiating them with Ar plasma for a short time. The morphology of the resulting nanowires is different from that of typical nanowires that have been reported. The nanowires have porous morphology, where small nanoparticles are connected to form nanobeadwire. The nanobeadwire is considered to increase the transparency of the film because of its rough morphology. This new method can synthesize silver nanobeadwires and fabricate the transparent conductive film simultaneously, in one-step, so that it can significantly simplify manufacturing processes.