Oxidation-Resilient Single-Electrode Nanogenerators Based on Modified Copper Nanowires in Core-Shell Design

Copper nanowires (CuNWs) have a wide range of applications in flexible electronics due to their excellent electrical conductivity, mechanical flexibility, optical transparency, and cost-efficiency. However, CuNWs are highly susceptible to oxidation, which limits their applications. In this study, CuNWs were synthesized by the hydrothermal method, and a time-efficient CuNWs-Ag core-shell nanostructure synthesis was developed, which prevented oxidation by coating Ag on CuNWs. The Ag plating process was optimized by adjusting the reaction time of the Ag plating and the amount of CuNWs added to the silver amine solution. The results showed that the synthesis time of the CuNWs-Ag core-shell nanostructure obtained through the galvanic replacement reaction method was significantly reduced. Optical and structural measurements confirmed the oxidation resilience. The output performance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) in single-electrode (SE) mode was studied, and the SE-TENG-based on CuNWs-Ag core-shell nanostructure, showed markedly improved stability compared to SE-TENG-based on pristine CuNWs, which was also exemplified by LED lighting from the electrical energy obtained from the TENGs in real-time. Given the fact that these modified CuNWs can be used in a variety of electronic and optoelectronic applications, these results hold great promise.