Capillary-Welded Silver Nanowire Networks Enabling Decoupled Multimodal Wearable Sensing and Transparent Electrothermal Heating

초록

Transparent wearable electronics integrating strain sensing, temperature detection, and electrothermal heating remain challenging due to weak adhesion between nanowires and substrates, as well as coupled signal responses. Here, we report a transparent PET/Ag NW/PVA film fabricated via rapid vapor-induced capillary welding and polymer encapsulation strategy. Brief vapor-exposure generates uniform droplets on silver nanowire, while evaporation-induced capillary force reinforces nanowire junctions at room-temperature without substrate damage. The PVA encapsulation layer further enhances interfacial adhesion and stabilizes the percolative network. The resulting electrode exhibited high transparency (similar to 85% at 550 nm) and low sheet resistance (22-35 Omega sq-1). The stabilized network enabled reliable strain sensing over 1600 bending cycles, thermoresistive detection from 0-50 degrees C (R 2 = 0.986), and uniform electrothermal output up to similar to 52 degrees C at 5 V. The distinct temporal responses enabled effective signal decoupling, allowing robust multimodal sensing within a single transparent architecture.

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