Fracture behaviour of silver nanowire films during shear deformation

Abstract Silver nanowire films have a wide application prospect in flexible electronics, while it is a noticeable problem that the silver nanowires break due to the shear force under the mass production film cutting or extreme service conditions. In this paper, the shear fracture behaviour of silver nanowire films with different structural parameters was studied under the extreme shear failure tests. The load–displacement curve was obtained from the nano-indentation test, while the hardness H , the elastic modulus E and the plastic properties represented by the ratio of H 3 / E 2 of silver nanowire films with different diameters and thicknesses were calculated. On the other hand, based on the load–displacement curve, the stress–strain curve can be obtained through the finite element method simulation. The plastic properties can also be judged by the lower limit of yield strength from simulated stress–strain curve. Combined with characteristic crack propagation range, the relationship between plasticity and shear fracture was found, which was further disclosed by in-depth microstructure analysis. The results show that the better the plasticity of silver nanowire films, the stronger the resistance to shear fracture.