Silver Nanowires Can Be Potential Alternatives for Everyday Devices Like Mobile Phones, Solar Panels; Boasts Better Quality, Versatility

Silver nanowires are an alternative material currently receiving much attention as the wires have extremely small diameters and can be fabricated into different cross-sectional forms and configurations.

A Phys.org report described today's nanoscale technologies as "sophisticated enough" to be used in an endless number of helpful devices, from sensors in devices with touch screens and household appliances to wearable biosensors that can monitor chemical levels in the blood, breathing, muscle movement, and pulse rate.

Additionally, there are technologies for precision devices like high-resolution scanning probe microscopes, which allow an individual to visualize surfaces not just at the atomic level but also at the distinctive atoms themselves.

These devices usually use electrodes made by applying thin coatings of conductive materials onto ceramic or glass substrates.

Nonetheless, these electrode types are fragile, not to mention not flexible, and can involve expensive and limited materials, too, like difficult fabrication methods.

That's what makes silver nanowires an alternative material. These materials are unmatched as well in conductivity. They also have greater mechanical strength and flexibility, not to mention their easily synthesized with already available materials.

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Qualities and Versatility of Silver Nanowires

The qualities mentioned, as well as the versatility of silver nanowires, as described in ACS Material, make them particularly attractive not just for a lot of commonly used electronic devices but also for innovations in flexible electronics as well, like mobile phones and tablets, cost-oriented solar panels or solar cells that can be fabricated into clothing or wallpaper.

Essentially, silver nanowires have been effectively employed as electrodes in different electronic devices. Nevertheless, their commercial use has been hindered by their susceptibility to the harsh effects of light, moisture, and heat.

Such corrosion can lead to holes and pits or some "etching" on the nanowire surface, adversely impacting their optical, mechanical, and electrical properties.

Furthermore, etching can be highly dangerous to silver nanowire-based device performance. It can even result in their failure.

A New Approach

Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation has developed an approach successfully for fabricating ultrathin shells surrounding silver nanowires, leading to greater stability and effectiveness.

Initially, they opted for gold for their protective shells because of their resistance to moisture, heat, and light. Moreover, its construction is similar to silver's, which facilitates the development of ultrathin layers of gold on the surfaces of silver nanowires.

There's a warning, though, with this approach. According to the authors of the study, Ultrathin-shell epitaxial Ag@Au core-shell nanowires for high-performance and chemically-stable electronic, optical, and mechanical devices, published in Nano Research, charged gold atoms might be present that can react with the silver material itself, forming pores or holes, which could eventually be uniquely problematic.

As indicated in this report, the researchers addressed this problem by selecting a chemical 'to complex with the charged gold atoms," this successfully inhibited the formation of forms.

Then, the team developed a room temperature, solutions-based fabrication approach, which provided easy setup and direct, scalable methods.

Remarkable Achievements

In performance trials on optical devices, the gold-coated nanowires exhibited high performance at 21 days. On the contrary, the untreated silver nanowires showed reduced efficacy within a week, and eventually, it failed.

Moreover, the tests presented that no added background noise was shown by the gold shells. Inside the same frame, the gold-coated nanowires showed greater outcomes when tried in high-resolution scanning probe microscopy, producing unwavering high-quality images.

On the contrary, the quality of images from the untreated nanowires slowly decreased until the occurrence of the device failure.

These, the researchers said in their study, are remarkable achievements, as this microscopy type engages high mechanical stress levels, and the stability of nanowires is crucial.

Related information about silver nanowires is shown on RAS AG's YouTube video below: