THIN AND UNIFORM SILVER NANOWIRES, METHOD OF SYNTHESIS AND TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE FILMS FORMED FROM THE NANOWIRES
Highly uniform and thin silver nanowires are described having average diameters below 20 nm and a small standard deviation of the diameters. The silver nanowires have a high aspect ratio. The silver nanowires can be characterized by a small number of nanowires having a diameter greater than 18 nm as well as with a blue shifted narrow absorption spectrum in a dilute solution. Methods are described to allow for the synthesis of the narrow uniform silver nanowires. Transparent conductive films formed from the thin, uniform silver nanowires can have very low levels of haze and low values of ΔL*, the diffusive luminosity, such that the transparent conductive films can provide little alteration of the appearance of a black background.
1 . A collection of nanowires comprising silver and having an average diameter of no more than about 20 nm and a standard deviation of the diameter of no more than about 2.5 nm.
2 . The collection of nanowires of claim 1 having an average diameter of no more than about 18 nm.
3 . The collection of nanowires of claim 1 having an average diameter of no more than about 16 nm.
4 . The collection of nanowires of claim 1 having a standard deviation of the diameter of no more than about 2.25 nm.
5 . The collection of nanowires of claim 1 having a standard deviation of the diameter of no more than about 2.0 nm.
6 . The collection of nanowires of claim 1 wherein a dilute dispersion of the nanowires in DMSO has a wavelength of maximum absorption of no higher than 376.5 nm, a normalized absorption at 410 nm of no more than about 0.225.
7 . The collection of nanowires of claim 1 wherein a dilute dispersion of the nanowires in DMSO has an absorption at 410 nm of no more than about 0.18 when the spectrum between 300 nm and 800 nm is normalized to have absorbance values between 0 and 1.
8 . The collection of nanowires of claim 1 wherein no more than 25% of the nanowires have a diameter greater than 18 nm
9 . The collection of nanowires of claim 1 wherein no more than about 10% of the nanowires have a diameter greater than 18 nm.
10 . The collection of nanowires of claim 1 having a noble metal coating.