Recent Progress on the Fabrication and Properties of Silver Nanowire-Based Transparent Electrodes

Transparent electrodes (TEs) made of metallic nanowires, such as Ag, Au, Cu, and Ni, are attracting increasing attention for several reasons: (1) they can act as a substitute for tin oxide-based TEs such as indium-tin oxide (ITO) and fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO); (2) various methods exist for fabricating such TEs such as filtration, spraying, and Meyer bar coating; (3) greater compatibility with different substrates can be achieved due to the variety of fabrication methods; and (4) extra functions in addition to serving as electrodes, such as catalytic abilities, can be obtained due to the metals of which the TEs are composed. There are a large number of applications for TEs, ranging from electronics and sensors to biomedical devices. This short review is a summary of recent progress, mainly over the past five years, on silver nanowire-based TEs. The focus of the review is on theory development, mechanical, chemical, and thermal stability as well as optical properties. The many applications of TEs are outside the scope of this review.