Polyol Synthesis of Silver Nanowires and Their Application for Transparent Electrode Fabrication

Abstract

Polyol synthesis of thin silver nanowires has been studied and their suitability for the formation of transparent electrodes has been shown. The influence of stepwise heating of the reaction system on the position and shape of the absorption band associated with the surface plasmon resonance of the formed silver nanostructures has been determined. Using X-ray powder diffraction analysis, it has been found that the material does not contain crystalline impurities and has a face-centered cubic lattice. According to the scanning and transmission electron microscopy data, the main fraction is represented by elongated nanostructures with 10–15 μm length (however, there are also structures with length up to 20 μm) characteristic for silver nanowires of the arc-shaped type. It is shown that the Ag nanowires obtained are quite thin (diameter is about 35–45 nm). In addition, some amount of microrods of 1–3 µm length is observed in the composition of the material, the diameter of which grows from 70 to 150 nm with decreasing length. In smaller quantities there is also an admixture of zero-dimensional particles, which are polyhedrons of various complexity. Atomic force microscopy has been used to study the surface of the film based on the obtained silver nanowires and the diameter of individual nanowire has been estimated. The optical properties and surface resistivity of the films based on the obtained silver nanowires have been examined. It has been found that the increase in transmittance at 550 nm from 73.9 to 90.3% is accompanied by an increase in the resistance value from 25 to 146 Ω/sq.