A parametric study on synthesis of Ag nanowires with high aspect ratio

In this study, the effect of the experimental parameters of the polyol process on the aspect ratio of silver nanowires (AgNWs) was investigated. The one-factor-at-a-time method was adopted to analyze the effect of various parameters, such as the amount of reducing agent, seeds and the ratio of PVP/Ag, on the growth of AgNWs. The optimal parameters were determined to obtain a high aspect ratio of AgNWs. Synthesized AgNWs were analyzed by SEM, TEM, and XRD, and the four-point probe method was applied to measure the average aspect ratio, morphology, crystal direction, crystalline structure, and the electrically property of its sheet resistance. From the result of the morphology measurement, a high aspect ratio of 74.85 can be fabricated, where the average diameter and length were about ~55 and 4117 nm, respectively. Regarding electrical property, the sheet resistance of AgNWs with a high aspect ratio is about ~16.34 kΩ/sq with the film thickness of 142.1 nm. However, when the film thickness was increased to 1.123 µm, the resistance decreased to 3.012 Ω/sq.