Large-area, stretchable, ordered silver nanowires electrode by superwetting-induced transfer of ionic liquid@silver nanowires complex

Stretchable transparent electrodes (STEs) are widely used in electronic skin, implantable biomedical devices and wearable devices, which need to meet metal-like conductivity and high transparency while being prepared in a large area. Silver nanowires are the most widely used material to construct conductive networks because of their excellent optoelectrical properties. However, the silver nanowires-based networks prepared by conventional large-area preparation processes are generally composed of disordered silver nanowires, which suffer both high junction resistance and high diffuse reflection. Herein, a large-area, stretchable, ordered silver nanowires electrode is prepared by superwetting-induced transfer of a self-assembled complex composed of ionic liquid (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium (bis-trifluoromethane sulfonyl) imide) and silver nanowires onto stretchable substrates. Then, electroless-welding is used to further reduce the junction resistance between silver nanowires. The generated STE shows a low sheet resistance of 26–46 Ω sq−1 and a high transmittance of 84 %–88 % at 550 nm. The STE is successfully applied for transparent heating devices, exhibiting high heating performance and tensile stability. This study provides a new method for the preparation of large-area high-performance STE for the next generation of stretchable devices.