Orientational Ag nanoparticle alignment from a facile ‘TEG‐sol’ method

Super‐aligned conductive material is a hotspot in the research of flexible and transparent conductive films. This work introduces a facile and rapid ‘TEG‐sol’ method to synthesise Ag nanoparticles and their orientational alignment. Pure, well‐crystallised Ag nanoparticles with polyhedron morphology are fabricated by reducing silver nitrate in TEG (triethylene glycol) solvent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy result reveals an organic coating layer on the surface of the Ag nanoparticles, which promotes the excellent dispersibility of these nanoparticles in TEG solvent. Orientational Ag nanoparticle alignment is obtained by spin coating the dispersion on copper foil. This proposed process provides a brand new idea for the design and fabrication of conductive microstructures.