Facile Surface Modification of Ultrathin Gold Nanowires Film with Hydrogen Sulfide for Improvement of Stability

Ultrathin gold nanowires (AuNWs) have an important role and promising applications in areas of wearable sensors, matter detection, and flexible transparent electronic materials. But oleylamine (OAm) ligand on the ultrathin AuNWs surface leads to high junction resistance and the inherent Rayleigh instability leads to decomposition into gold spheres within a few days. To eliminate these two disadvantages, herein, the implementation of one facile H2S gas treatment method to improve the conductivity and stability of ultrathin AuNWs is tried. The conductivity of AuNWs on the interdigital electrode can be improved by 4 x 10(7) times because the AuNWs became bent and cross-linked, due to the H2S exchange of the ligand OAm. In addition, the conductivity of the three-layer ultrathin AuNW film on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) can be improved by at least 2000 times. The ultrafine structure of AuNWs can be maintained for more than 1 week at room temperature, which attributes to H2S that can protect the surface structure of AuNWs. The findings highlight a new method of the ultrathin AuNWs for exceeding improvement in electronic conduction and stability.