Polyvinylpyrrolidone-Free Silver Nanowires for Alternating Current Electroluminescence Electrode Devices

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Silver nanowires (AgNWs) were prepared by the polyol method. The synthesis temperature was varied from 110 to 170 °C, with increments of 10 °C. At a low temperature of 110 °C, only a small amount of nanowires was formed. Many uniform and long nanowires were formed in a temperature range of 120–150 °C, but at high temperatures at 160 and 170 °C, the nanowires of larger diameter and shorter length were formed with some silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on their surfaces. AgNWs under a reaction temperature of 140 °C (AgNWs-140 °C) exhibited the longest average length (88 ± 37 μ m) and the highest aspect ratio (1134 ± 485), with an average diameter of 77.2 ± 19.1 nm. These results indicate that 140 °C provides optimal growth conditions, achieving a balance between the nucleation and elongation processes. AgNWs-140 °C-based transparent conductive films (TCF) exhibited a low sheet resistance of 46 Ω/sq with the highest transmittance of 68% at a 550 nm wavelength. The assembled alternating current electroluminescence devices (AC-EL), having the device structure as a AgNWs-TCF/ZnS:Cu phosphor layer/BaTiO 3 dielectric layer/Ag-paste back-electrode, showed the luminance intensity depended on the sheet resistance and transmittance of the TCF film. The AgNWs-140 °C AC-EL device delivered the highest luminance of 531.1 ± 69.8 cd/m 2, which was about 95.4% of that of the standard conductive ITO/PEN TCF commercial electrode (557.6 ± 29.7 cd/m 2 ).