Fabrication, Conductive Properties and Photocatalytic Application of Silver Nanorods
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JMEPEG DOI: 10.1007/s11665-017-2625-7
Fabrication, Conductive Properties and Photocatalytic Application of Silver Nanorods Yi-Hsun Chen, Pai-Chung Liu, and C.B. Lin (Submitted August 25, 2016; in revised form February 28, 2017) This study proposes a process for fabricating silver nanorods used in conductive circuits and photocatalytic applications. In this process, UV-irradiated silver chloride nanoparticles are added to ethylene glycol solution containing polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and silver nitrate at 120 °C. With the seed crystal synthesis method, this process yielded a solution containing silver nanowires with an aspect ratio (AR) of approximately 1055 after 12 h. Aluminum foam was then placed in this solution, and the solution was stirred using a magnetic stirrer at 400 rpm. After 4 days, this process yielded a solution of silver nanorods with an AR of approximately 130. After completely washing away any PVP on the surface of the silver nanorods, a conductive ethanol ink containing 25 wt.% silver nanorods was prepared, and a conductive layer approximately 3 lm thick was applied on a glass slide. Measurements obtained using a four-point probe indicated that this layer had a sheet resistance of approximately 0.012 X/sq. Furthermore, a conductive ethanol ink containing 26 wt.% silver nanorods was used in a pen to draw conductive circuits on Bristol board and matte paper; the resulting sheet resistances were 132 and 0.018 X/sq, respectively. Finally, a visible-light-responsive photocatalyst consisting of silver nanorods dispersed over the Ag@AgCl film (Ag@AgCl/Ag nanorods; AR = 25) was synthesized through heterogeneous precipitation. The photocatalytic activity of the Ag@AgCl film can be further improved by the addition of silver nanorods. Keywords
conductive silver ethanol ink, photocatalyst, sheet resistance, silver chloride, silver nanorods, silver nanowires
1. Introduction Transparent conducting films (TCFs) are widely used in touch screens, solar cells, and flexible displays. Although most TCFs currently use indium tin oxide (ITO), the price of ITO has been increasing because indium is rare in the EarthÕs crust. Furthermore, the use of ITO in flexible displays often causes cracking. Therefore, there is a need to find materials that can replace ITO. Some possible candidates include carbon nanotubes, high-quality single crystalline graphene, conductive polymers, and silver nanowires. Of these, carbon nanotubes are difficult to disperse (Ref 1), high-quality single crystalline graphene is difficult to mass produce (Ref 2), and conductive polymers have poor moisture resistance (Ref 3). However, silver nanowires are considered to have the potential to replace ITO (Ref 4-8). Conducting networks formed from silver nanowires offer relatively high light transmittance, high heat conduction, and high conductivity (Ref 9, 10) and can maintain their excellent conductivity when flexed or subjected to tension (Ref 11, 12). Silver nanowires can be produced using three methods: the template synthesis method (Ref 13-15), the seed c
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