Improved Reliability of Silver Nanowire-Based Composites by Electroplating: A Theoretical and Experimental Study

Recently, improving the reliability of silver nanowire (AgNW) has become an interesting topic for promoting working performance and service life of portable electronic devices. In this work, flexible, transparent, and highly conductive AgNW-based films are fabricated by electroplating Cu, Co, or Ni on polyethylene terephthalate. The AgNW network deposited by metal shell (Metal@AgNW) via electroplating exhibits improved conductivity with acceptable transmittance. The Metal@AgNW effectively enhances the chemical reliability of AgNW concerning the electrochemical migration and the UV degradation of Ag, maintaining a superior mechanical property. For the sulfurizing degradation of AgNW, only Ni@AgNW holds a relatively strong resistance. In addition, a high electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE) up to 30 dB of Metal@AgNW with a good stability in the frequency range of 8.2–12.5 GHz is obtained, which is higher than that of pristine AgNW network. Theoretical calculations in combination with the corresponding experiments are employed to investigate the mechanism of electroplating Cu, Co, or Ni on AgNW. As a result, electroplated Ni on AgNW is the densest and most reliable coating in comparison to other metals due to the relatively strong interaction between electroplated Ni particles and the Ag surface. Therefore, electroplating Ni on AgNW is the preferred approach to obtain flexible, transparent, and high-conductivity films with superior reliability.