Facile Synthesis of Highly Oxidation Stable Nanosilver-Coated Copper Nanowires for Transparent Flexible Electrodes

This study reports an efficient electroless plating approach using an amino-alcohol precursor to synthesize the oxidation stable copper@silver (Cu@Ag) core–shell nanowires. The synthesized nanowires were characterized by different techniques. The as-synthesized nanowires were used to fabricate transparent flexible electrodes (TFEs) and transparent stretchable heaters (TSHs). The nanowire network on the substrates was sintered using the 5% aqueous solution of H2O2, which welded the nanowires at their junction and strongly attached to the substrate. Therefore, the optical-electrical performance (∼13 Ω sq–1 @ 89% transmittance), oxidation stability, and mechanical flexibility of as-prepared TFEs and TSHs were improved to a large extent. In addition, the performance of the TSHs in terms of high-saturation temperature and stability against repeated stretching cycles upon 20% mechanical strain temperature are also enhanced. The overall processing strategy was suitable to synthesize the Cu@Ag core–shell nanowires and to fabricate the stable TFEs and TSHs for modern electronic and thermoelectric devices.