Highly connected thin electrodes comprising Ag-Ni core-shell nanowires for flexible CNT/graphene Joule heaters

초록

Ag nanomaterials are typically used in solar-cell electrodes, medical imaging optical devices, touchscreen sensors, air and water purification devices, light-emitting diodes, catalysts, conductive adhesives, and wearable heaters. Although relatively bulky and expensive, Ag paste is widely used as an electrode material in these applications. The lightweight Ag-Ni core-shell nanowires (AgNW-Ni) developed in this study exhibit excellent thermal and electrical properties, even at extremely low mass loadings, because of their excellent electrical network resembling a spider web. Because Ni possesses a higher melting temperature than Ag, AgNWs were electroplated with Ni to protect Ag from disintegration under high Joule heating conditions. Then, AgNW-Ni electrodes were installed at both ends of a flexible carbon nanotube/graphene heater. The AgNW-Ni and Agpaste electrodes with thicknesses of 1 and 35 mu m disintegrated at Tmax = 303 and 286 degrees C, respectively, under high Joule heating. Owing to its lower thickness, AgNW-Ni electrode synthesis consumes less material than synthesizing Ag-paste electrodes; thus, AgNW-Ni is relatively cost-effective. In addition to being used in electrodes, AgNW-Ni can be used as an active heating material. The patternability of the AgNW-Ni films for heaters of various shapes was also investigated in this study.

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