Cohesively improved conductivity, transparency, and stability of Ag NW flexible transparent conductive thin films by covering Al2O3 layer

Developing feasible Ag nanowire (NW) transparent conductive thin films (TCFs) with good conductivity, transparency, mechanical durability, strong adhesion, and high stability is a great challenge. Herein, novel TCFs composed of Ag NWs/Al₂O₃ on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates with synchronously improved conductivity, transparency, mechanical durability, adhesion, and stability, are prepared. The corresponding values (before coating Al₂O₃: 13.0 Ω/sq. at 86.1 %, after coating Al₂O₃: 11.7 Ω/sq. at 87.7 %) indicate that the deposition of Al₂O₃ enhances the transparency and conductivity of Ag NW networks. Moreover, the resistance does not change significantly after 50 taping cycles and 2000 bending cycles with a bending radius of 5.0 mm, indicating the strong adhesion and good mechanical flexibility of Al₂O₃/Ag NWs composites. In addition, Al₂O₃/Ag NWs composites possess excellent stability to resist strong oxidizing, hot and humid environments. As a proof of concept, the flexible transparent heater prepared by Al₂O₃/Ag NWs composites is successfully demonstrated, verifying the practicability.