Multiple times synthesis of silver nanowires by recycling the waste left after standard polyol synthesis for flexible transparent heater

Abstract

Background

Recycling of remnant materials such as solvents, various ions, stabilizing and reducing agents after solution phase synthesis and purification of the nanomaterials transmits favorable impact on industrial production.

Methods

In this research paper, we fabricated silver nanowire (AgNW)-based flexible transparent electrodes (FTEs), wherein synthesis of AgNWs was performed using remnant materials residual solvents, dissolved unreacted reagents left after standard polyol synthesis protocol.

Significant Findings

It has been found that the residue remains after standard polyol synthesis of AgNWs can be utilized multiple times for the synthesis of fresh nanowires so called recycled-AgNWs by optimizing input reactants and reaction conditions such as concentration of AgNO₃, FeCl₃, PVP etc. The structural and morphological studies of the recycled-AgNWs have been carried out using XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS. The FTE fabricated using such recycled-AgNWs delivered sheet resistance of 12.2 ± 1.1 Ω/sq with transmittance of 86 ± 4 % at 550 nm and sustained its conductivity after repeated bending cycles. The comparison between our FTE prepared using recycled-AgNWs and recently reported FTE using standard AgNWs have revealed the similar properties. Furthermore, we have demonstrated fabricated FTE as flexible transparent heater, which generated 80 °C of temperature by applying 7 V supply for 30 s. The quick temperature increase make the recycled-AgNWs-based transparent heater as an excellent antifogging or self-cleaning device, which can be further applied for various other applications.