In situ carbon coating for enhanced chemical stability of copper nanowires

Abstract

Copper nanowires (CuNWs) are promising electrode materials, especially for used in flexible and transparent electrodes, due to their advantages of earth-abundant, low-cost, high conductivity and flexibility. However, the poor stability of CuNWs against oxidation and chemical corrosion seriously hinders their practical applications. Herein, we propose a facile strategy to improve the chemical stability of CuNWs by in situ coating of carbon protective layer on top of them through hydrothermal carbonization method. The influential factors on the growth of carbon film including the concentration of the glucose precursor (carbon source), hydrothermal temperature, and hydrothermal time are systematically studied. By tailoring these factors, carbon layers with thickness of 3–8 nm can be uniformly grown on CuNWs with appropriate glucose concentration around 80 mg·mL⁻¹, hydrothermal temperature of 160–170°C, and hydrothermal time of 1–3 h. The as-prepared carbon-coated CuNWs show excellent resistance against corrosion and oxidation, and are of great potential to use broadly in various optoelectronic devices.

Keywords

electrode material / copper nanowire / in situ carbon coating / stability

References

[1] Ye SR, Rathmell AR, Chen ZF, Stewart IE, Wiley BJ. Metal nanowire networks: The next generation of transparent conductors. Adv. Mater., 2014, 26(39): 6670.

[2] Sannicolo T, Lagrange M, Cabos A, Celle C, Simonato JP, Bellet D. Metallic nanowire-based transparent electrodes for next generation flexible devices: A review. Small, 2016, 12(44): 6052.

[3] Li WT, Zhang H, Shi SW, Xu JX, Qin X, He QQ, Yang KC, Dai WB, Liu G, Zhou QG, Yu HZ, Silva SRP, Fahlman M. Recent progress in silver nanowire networks for flexible organic electronics. J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020, 8(14): 4636.

[4] Hashemi SA, Ramakrishna S, Aberle AG. Recent progress in flexible—wearable solar cells for self-powered electronic devices. Energy Environ. Sci., 2020, 13(3): 685.

[5] Wang DR, Zhang YK, Lu X, Ma ZJ, Xie C, Zheng ZJ. Chemical formation of soft metal electrodes for flexible and wearable electronics. Chem. Soc. Rev., 2018, 47(12): 4611.

[6] H.F. Lu, X.G. Ren, D. Ouyang, and W.C.H. Choy, Emerging novel metal electrodes for photovoltaic applications, Small, 14(2018), No. 14, art. No. 1703140.

[7] Rathmell AR, Bergin SM, Hua YL, Li ZY, Wiley BJ. The growth mechanism of copper nanowires and their properties in flexible, transparent conducting films. Adv. Mater., 2010, 22(32): 3558.

[8] Ye EY, Zhang SY, Liu SH, Han MY. Disproportionation for growing copper nanowires and their controlled self-assembly facilitated by ligand exchange. Chem. A Eur. J., 2011, 17(11): 3074.

[9] Rathmell AR, Wiley BJ. The synthesis and coating of long, thin copper nanowires to make flexible, transparent conducting films on plastic substrates. Adv. Mater., 2011, 23(41): 4798.

[10] Jin MS, He GN, Zhang H, Zeng J, Xie ZX, Xia YN. Shape-controlled synthesis of copper nanocrystals in an aqueous solution with glucose as a reducing agent and hexadecylamine as a capping agent. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2011, 50(45): 10560.

[11] Zhang DQ, Wang RR, Wen MC, Weng D, Cui X, Sun J, Li HX, Lu YF. Synthesis of ultralong copper nanowires for high-performance transparent electrodes. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134(35): 14283.

[12] Cheng Y, Wang SL, Wang RR, Sun J, Gao L. Copper nanowire based transparent conductive films with high stability and superior stretchability. J. Mater. Chem. C, 2014, 2(27): 5309.

[13] Hwang H, Kim A, Zhong ZY, Kwon HC, Jeong S, Moon J. Reducible-shell-derived pure-copper-nanowire network and its application to transparent conducting electrodes. Adv. Funct. Mater., 2016, 26(36): 6545.

[14] Yin ZX, Song SK, Cho S, You DJ, Yoo J, Chang ST, Kim YS. Curved copper nanowires-based robust flexible transparent electrodes via all-solution approach. Nano Res., 2017, 10(9): 3077.

[15] Dou LT, Cui F, Yu Y, Khanarian G, Eaton SW, Yang Q, Resasco J, Schildknecht C, Schierle-Arndt K, Yang PD. Solution-processed copper/reduced-graphene-oxide core/shell nanowire transparent conductors. ACS Nano, 2016, 10(2): 2600.

[16] Ahn Y, Jeong Y, Lee D, Lee Y. Copper nanowire—graphene core—shell nanostructure for highly stable transparent conducting electrodes. ACS Nano, 2015, 9(3): 3125.

[17] Chen JY, Zhou WX, Chen J, Fan Y, Zhang ZQ, Huang ZD, Feng XM, Mi BX, Ma YW, Huang W. Solution-processed copper nanowire flexible transparent electrodes with PEDOT:PSS as binder, protector and oxide-layer scavenger for polymer solar cells. Nano Res., 2015, 8(3): 1017.

[18] Y. Won, A. Kim, D. Lee, W. Yang, K. Woo, S. Jeong, and J. Moon, Annealing-free fabrication of highly oxidation-resistive copper nanowire composite conductors for photovoltaics, NPG Asia Mater., 6(2014), No. 6, art. No. e105.

[19] Kholmanov IN, Domingues SH, Chou H, Wang XH, Tan C, Kim JY, Li HF, Piner R, Zarbin AJG, Ruoff RS. Reduced graphene oxide/copper nanowire hybrid films as highperformance transparent electrodes. ACS Nano, 2013, 7(2): 1811.

[20] Hsu PC, Wu H, Carney TJ, McDowell MT, Yang Y, Garnett EC, Li M, Hu L, Cui Y. Passivation coating on electrospun copper nanofibers for stable transparent electrodes. ACS Nano, 2012, 6(6): 5150.

[21] Stewart IE, Rathmell AR, Yan L, Ye SR, Flowers PF, You W, Wiley BJ. Solution-processed copper—nickel nanowire anodes for organic solar cells. Nanoscale, 2014, 6(11): 5980.

[22] Titirici MM, Antonietti M. Chemistry and materials options of sustainable carbon materials made by hydrothermal carbonization. Chem. Soc. Rev., 2010, 39(1): 103.

[23] Sun XM, Li YD. Colloidal carbon spheres and their core/shell structures with noble-metal nanoparticles. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2004, 43(5): 597.

[24] Noh M, Kwon Y, Lee H, Cho J, Kim Y, Kim MG. Amorphous carbon-coated tin anode material for lithium secondary battery. Chem. Mater., 2005, 17(8): 1926.

[25] Athanassiou EK, Grass RN, Stark WJ. Large-scale production of carbon-coated copper nanoparticles for sensor applications. Nanotechnology, 2006, 17(6): 1668.

[26] Lou XW, Chen JS, Chen P, Archer LA. One-pot synthesis of carbon-coated SnO₂ nanocolloids with improved reversible lithium storage properties. Chem. Mater., 2009, 21(13): 2868.

[27] Tai QD, Chen BL, Guo F, Xu S, Hu H, Sebo B, Zhao XZ. In situ prepared transparent polyaniline electrode and its application in bifacial dye-sensitized solar cells. ACS Nano, 2011, 5(5): 3795.

[28] Q.D. Tai, C.H. Bu, B.L. Chen, N.G. Zhang, S.H. Bai, H. Hu, S. Xu, and X.Z. Zhao, A methylene bridged bisimidazolium iodide based low-volatility electrolyte for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells, J. Renewable Sustainable Energy, 5(2013), No. 4, art. No. 043121.

[29] Tai QD, Guo XY, Tang GQ, You P, Ng TW, Shen D, Cao JP, Liu CK, Wang NX, Zhu Y, Lee CS, Yan F. Anti-oxidant grain passivation for air-stable tin-based perovskite solar cells. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2019, 58(3): 806.

[30] J. Ahn, H. Hwang, S. Jeong, and J. Moon, Metal-nanowire-electrode-based perovskite solar cells: Challenging issues and new opportunities, Adv. Energy Mater., 7(2017), No. 15, art. No. 1602751.

[31] Zhang HY, Li R, Liu WW, Zhang M, Guo M. Research progress in lead-less or lead-free three-dimensional perovskite absorber materials for solar cells. Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 2019, 26(4): 387.

[32] Yang T, Zheng YP, Chou KC, Hou XM. Tunable fabrication of single-crystalline CsPbI₃ nanobelts and their application as photodetectors. Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 2021, 28(6): 1030.

[33] Y. Kato, L.K. Ono, M.V. Lee, S.H. Wang, S.R. Raga, and Y.B. Qi, Silver iodide formation in methyl ammonium lead iodide perovskite solar cells with silver top electrodes, Adv. Mater. Interfaces, 2(2015), No. 13, art. No. 1500195.

[34] X.D. Li, S. Fu, W.X. Zhang, S.Z. Ke, W.J. Song, and J.F. Fang, Chemical anti-corrosion strategy for stable inverted perovskite solar cells, Sci. Adv., 6(2020), No. 51, art. No. eabd1580.