FABRICATION OF TRANSPARENT CONDUCTING COATINGS BASED ON SILVER NAN-OWIRES

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the results of the experimental investigation of transparent conducting coatings based on synthesized silver nanowires (AgNWs). Silver nanowires were synthesized using the developed modification of the polyol method. The obtained nanowires have a diameter of 60-80 nm and a length of 20-30 micrometers. With help of spin-coater, AgNWs were coated onto transparent substrates (microscopic glass slides, 5x2.5 cm²). As a result, coatings with various transparency ranging from 77 to 91% were fabricated.  To improve the conductivity of the percolation network of AgNWs, two post-treatment methods for coatings were applied: the traditional method of thermal annealing (for 40 s at 220 ^оC) and the low-temperature method – deposition of additional PEDOT:PSS coating onto the surface of the conducting layer of AgNWs. It was discovered that at a transmittance of 91% thermal annealing allows decreasing sheet resistance from 380 to 43 Ohm/sq. Deposition of additional PEDOT:PSS coating without thermal treatment allowed to reduce the coating’s surface resistance to 19 Ohm/sq, while transmittance decreased slightly – to 88%. Conducting coatings were tested as transparent heaters. The maximum temperature achieved in 2 min at applied potential difference of 12V was 140 ^оC.