Stable Nanowires – Spray coated nanowires: enhanced stability for touch sensing and solar cell applications

Transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) are an essential component of many electronic devices such as such as solar cells, touch screens, flat panel displays and OLEDs. Most TCEs use indium tin oxide (ITO) based electrodes which are optically transparent, electrically conductive and easily deposited as a film. ITO, however, has limited conductivity, possesses too high a cost for widespread commercialisation and shows limited longevity on polymer substrates. Metallic nanowires represent an interesting alternative to ITO. They combine several advantages such as high optical transparency, low sheet resistance and mechanical flexibility - a promising transparent conducting material for electrical and optical devices, particularly as flexible and conformal transparent electrodes. The stable nanowires project accessed the viability of  implementing nanowire  electrodes - identifying and addressing the challenges involved.