Review on the Synthesis and Antioxidation of Cu Nanowires for Transparent Conductive Electrodes

Transparent conducting films based on solution-synthesized copper nanowires (Cu NWs) are considered to be an attractive alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO) due to the relative abundance of Cu and the low cost of solution-phase NW coating processes. Moreover, transparent electrodes tend to be flexible. This makes Cu NWs more attractive because ITO is brittle and can not meet the requirements of flexibility. For Cu NWs, aspect ratio is an important property. Cu NWs can be directly prepared by chemical reduction with various reducing agents and suitable capping agents. In general, the selectivity of the capping agent is very important for the formation of one-dimensional nanostructures because it plays a major role in the thermodynamic regulations and growth kinetics that influence the geometry and morphology of the crystal facets. Therefore, different aspect ratios are formed. Conductivity is the most important property for transparent electrodes. Organic pickling, annealing and glare pulses have a certain improvement in conductivity. Meanwhile, it is also essential to increase the oxidation resistance of the transparent electrode. The reduction of graphene oxide (r-GO), the coating of metal and polymer improve the oxidation resistance of the transparent electrode to varying degrees. This paper reviews the effect of different capping agents on the aspect ratio of NWs, and the effects of different post-treatments on oxidation resistance and conductivity of transparent electrodes.