Facile Fabrication of Transparent Conductor of Cu Nanowire-PEDOT:PSS

Abstract

We have successfully demonstrated the synthesis of Cu nanowires (CuNWs) by aqueous solution at low temperatures. We have also studied the fabrication of a transparent conductor using Mayer rod coating. In the present study, the problem with the fabrication of CuNW transparent conductor is low oxidation resistance. Based on this purpose, we developed a facile method for coating poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) on CuNW transparent conductor. The PEDOT:PSS can protect CuNW transparent conductors from oxidation. The morphology and crystal structure of the CuNWs transparent conductor were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The SEM images show an increase in connectivity of CuNWs after PEDOT:PSS coating and X-ray diffraction shows peaks at 42.52°, 49.68°, 60.94° and 73.43°. The performance of the transparent conductor was investigated by IV-meter analysis and spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The results indicated that the coated transparent conductor with PEDOT:PSS/CuNWs has a much better performance compared to the uncoated one. The CuNW-coated transparent conductor has a resistance of 220 ohm sq-1, while the uncoated one is 1200 ohm sq-1. The newly designed transparent conductor with PEDOT: PSS/CuNWs could serve as new materials for a wide range of high-performance transparent conductors for future practice.