Department of Chemistry, Duke University, 124 Science Drive, Box 90354 Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States.
Nano Lett. 2012 Jun 13;12(6):3193-9. doi: 10.1021/nl301168r. Epub 2012 May 31.
Nanowires of copper can be coated from liquids to create flexible, transparent conducting films that can potentially replace the dominant transparent conductor, indium tin oxide, in displays, solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes, and electrochromic windows. One issue with these nanowire films is that copper is prone to oxidation. It was hypothesized that the resistance to oxidation could be improved by coating copper nanowires with nickel. This work demonstrates a method for synthesizing copper nanowires with nickel shells as well as the properties of cupronickel nanowires in transparent conducting films. Time- and temperature-dependent sheet resistance measurements indicate that the sheet resistance of copper and silver nanowire films will double after 3 and 36 months at room temperature, respectively. In contrast, the sheet resistance of cupronickel nanowires containing 20 mol % nickel will double in about 400 years. Coating copper nanowires to a ratio of 2:1 Cu:Ni gave them a neutral gray color, making them more suitable for use in displays and electrochromic windows. These properties, and the fact that copper and nickel are 1000 times more abundant than indium or silver, make cupronickel nanowires a promising alternative for the sustainable, efficient production of transparent conductors.
铜纳米线可以通过液体涂层来制造出灵活的透明导电薄膜，有望替代目前占主导地位的透明导体铟锡氧化物（ITO），用于显示器、太阳能电池、有机发光二极管（OLED）和电致变色窗等。这些纳米线薄膜存在一个问题，就是铜容易氧化。有人假设，通过在铜纳米线表面镀镍，可以提高其抗氧化能力。本工作展示了一种在铜纳米线表面合成镍壳的方法，以及在透明导电薄膜中铜镍纳米线的性能。随时间和温度变化的面电阻测量表明，在室温下，铜和银纳米线薄膜的面电阻分别在 3 个月和 36 个月后会翻倍。相比之下，含 20mol%镍的铜镍纳米线的面电阻大约在 400 年后才会翻倍。将铜纳米线的镀覆比例调整为 2:1 的 Cu:Ni 后，它们呈现出中性灰色，使其更适合用于显示器和电致变色窗。这些特性，再加上铜和镍的含量比铟或银高出 1000 倍，使得铜镍纳米线成为替代可持续、高效生产透明导体的一种有前景的材料。
