Fabrication of silver nanowire based low haze transparent conducting film through optimization of synthesis protocol

Abstract

The need for next generation transparent conducting films that can replace indium doped tin oxide film has consistently come up. To do this, over the last decade, researchers explored the possibility of using nanomaterials such as CNT, graphene, and metal nanowires. Amongst, since silver nanowire based transparent conducting films have shown higher transmittance and electrical conductivity compared to those of ITO films, the electronic industry has recognized them as promising substitutes. However, due to higher haze value of silver nanowire based transparent conductor compared to ITO films, poor resolution is observed when silver nanowire based films are applied to touch screen panels. The poor visibility is attributed to light scattering by the silver nanowires, and this haze value can be dramatically reduced by using thin silver nanowires. In this research, to synthesize thin silver nanowires with high length to diameter ratio, we first identified the roles of important synthesis parameters such as molar concentration of AgNO3, NaCl and molecular weight of PVP. Based on the findings, we were able to synthesize silver nanowire solution with high aspect ratios. After that, we fabricated transparent conducting films using synthesized silver nanowires, which showed 2% of haze value as well as both higher transmittance and electrical conductivity compared to ITO films.