In Situ Seed-Mediated High-Yield Synthesis of Copper Nanowires on Large Scale

Copper nanowires (Cu NWs) are among ideal candidates for fabricating various advanced nanodevices, especially flexible electronics and transparent conductive electrodes. However, although many efforts have been made, the commercialization of Cu NWs is still difficult. Herein, we report an in situ seed-mediated two-step strategy to synthesize well-defined Cu NWs in high yield. In the first step, that is, seed formation process, most Cu ions (85%) in situ transform to nondecahedral Cu nanodots (NDs). These Cu NDs can promote the formation of decahedral multiply twinned particles (DMTPs) and the subsequent growth of Cu NWs by selectively inhibiting the spontaneous ripening of nanoparticle (NP) byproducts in the second step. The amount and quality of Cu NDs play an important role in high-yield production of Cu NWs, and the yield was successfully increased to 2.4 times higher than that of the conventional methods. Furthermore, an effective shaking-rotating purification technique was developed to fully separate Cu NWs from the final product solution. After scaling up the reaction, 50 g of high-quality Cu NWs can be produced with a uniform size and high aspect ratio at a very low material cost of $ 0.99/g. These promising results not only provide a high-yield and low-cost synthetic route but also can promote the widespread commercialization of Cu NWs in advanced nanodevices.