Silver nanowires on carbon nanotube aerogel sheets for flexible, transparent electrodes

Flexible, free-standing transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) with simultaneously tunable transmittances up to 98% and sheet resistances down to 11 ?/sq were prepared by a facile spray-coating method of silver nanowires (AgNWs) onto dry-spun multiwall carbon nanotube (MWNT) aerogels. Counterintuitively, the transmittance of the hybrid electrodes can be increased as the mass density of AgNWs within the MWNT aerogels increases, however, the final achievable transmittance depends on the initial transparency of the MWNT aerogels. Simultaneously, a strong decrease in sheet resistance is obtained when AgNWs form a percolated network along the MWNT aerogel. Additionally, anisotropic reduction in sheet resistance and polarized transmittance of AgNW/MWNT aerogels is achieved with this method. The final AgNW/MWNT hybrid TCEs transmittance and sheet resistance can be fine-tuned by spray-coating mechanisms or by choosing initial MWNT aerogel density. Thus, a wide range of AgNW/MWNT hybrid TCEs with optimized optoelectronic properties can be achieved depending of the requirements needed. Finally, the free-standing AgNW/MWNT hybrid TCEs can be laminated onto a wide range of substrates without the need of a bonding aid.