Transparent electrodes based on silver nanowire networks: from
fundamental aspects to integration into device
T. Sannicolo
1,2
, M. Lagrange
1
, S. Xian
1
, D. Muñoz-Rojas
1
, C. Jiménez
1
, Y. Bréchet
3
,
N. D. Nguyen
4
, D. Bellet
1,*
*
1
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, LMGP, F-38000 Grenoble, France
CNRS, LMGP, F-38000 Grenoble, France
2
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France
CEA, LITEN, F-38054 Grenoble, France
3
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SIMAP, F-38000 Grenoble, France
CNRS, SIMAP, F-38000 Grenoble, France
4
Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Interfaces et Nanostructures
Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgique.
The past few years have seen a considerable amount of research devoted to
nanostructured transparent conducting materials which play a pivotal role in many modern
devices such as: solar cells, flexible light-emitting devices, touch screens and flexible
transparent thin film heaters. Metallic nanowire networks have recently been a heavily
researched subject. Currently, the most commonly used material for such applications is Tin-
doped Indium oxide (ITO). Although ITO exhibits very good physical properties, indium
scarcity and brittleness have prompted the search for alternative materials. Among emerging
transparent electrodes, silver nanowire (AgNW) networks appear as a promising substitute to
ITO since these percolating networks exhibit excellent properties with sheet resistance of a
few Ω/sq and optical transparency of 90%, fulfilling the requirements for many applications.
It also shows very good electro-mechanical properties. In addition, the fabrication of these
electrodes involves low-temperature process steps and upscaling methods, thus making them
very appropriate for future use as TE for flexible devices.
Our research is focused on the fundamental understanding of the physical phenomena
taking place at the scales of both the network (macroscale) and the NW-to-NW junctions
(nanoscale), and on the ability of AgNW networks to be integrated as transparent electrodes
for different applications. In-situ electrical measurements performed during optimisation
process such as thermal annealing provide useful information regarding the activation process
of the junctions. This contribution aims at presenting a short overview of the main properties
and applications of metallic nanowire networks, as well as the integration in devices.
Some references of the team:
1.
Flexible transparent conductive materials based on silver nanowire networks: a review
D.P. Langley, G. Giusti, C. Mayousse, C. Celle, D. Bellet, J.-P. Simonato, Nanotechnology 24 (2013)
452001
2.
Highly flexible transparent film heaters based on random networks of silver nanowires
S. Sorel, D. Bellet, J.N. Coleman, ACS Nano (2014) 427–433
3.
D.P. Langley, G. Giusti, M. Lagrange, R. Collins, C. Jiménez, Y. Bréchet, D. Bellet, Solar Energy
Materials and Solar Cells 125 (2014) 318-324
4.
D.P. Langley, M. Lagrange, G. Giusti, C. Jimenez, N.D. Nguyen, D. Bellet, Nanoscale 6 (2014) 13535
5.
Optimization of silver nanowire-based transparent electrodes: effects of density, size and thermal annealing
M. Lagrange, D.P. Langley, G. Giusti, C. Jimenez, Y. Bréchet, D. Bellet; Nanoscale 7 (2015) 17410-17423
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