Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are promising candidates to replace ITO as transparent electrode materials which can be deposited onto plastic substrates such as Poly(Ethylene Terephtalate) (PET). Their one-dimensional structure plays an important role in electrode performances as the percolation threshold can be reached for low concentration of materials. The main issue is their oxidation when exposed in air as both their conductive and transmittance performances decrease quickly.
Different approaches have already been proposed to prevent oxidation of silver nanowires: graphene/AgNWs, reduced graphene oxide/AgNWs, resulting in an oxidation stability for a few months. Nevertheless, these different solutions are not fully satisfactory since these protective layers tend to reduce the electrodes conductivity and transmittance.
Here we report the effect of triphenylphosphine, which allows efficient stabilization of silver nanowires against oxidation without sacrificing their transparency. The achieved electrodes exhibit constant resistance/transmittance performances of 12 Ω/sq. and 75% transmittance over three months in ambient atmosphere. Stability is also demonstrated under highly oxidative atmosphere such as nitric acid. This discovery fulfils an important technological demand for the development of low-cost, new and efficient transparent and flexible electrodes.