Preparation of silver nanowires for transparent conductive films

Abstract

Silver nanowires with various aspect ratios were successfully synthesized using a polyol method. The diameter and length of the silver nanowires were controlled by changing the reaction variables of initial reaction temperature, injection rate, and molecular weight of poly(vinyl) pyrrolidone (PVP). Silver nanowires with small diameters were synthesized by lowering the initial reaction temperature, while those with longer length were obtained when PVP with a large molecular weight was used. In addition, silver nanowires with a high aspect ratio greater than 3000 were produced by controlling the injection rate of the silver source. For transparent conductive films, silver nanowire ink with a resistance of 10 Omega/square and a transmittance of 80% were produced using a mixture of silver nanowires with high and low aspect ratios.