Copper nanowire, which can greatly reduce the potential display manufacturing cost of mobile phones, electronic readers and iPad, and can help scientists build foldable electronic products and improve the performance of solar cells, has entered the commercial stage of manufacture.
In an ingenious application of food chemistry more commonly associated with the searing of steak or baking of bread, scientists in Singapore have developed a green synthesis for well-defined copper nanowires (CuNWs).
Films made from silver or copper nanowires are promising candidates, exhibiting high conductivity and optical transparency in addition to being flexible. Food chemistry is a much talked about topic nowadays and an interesting field to venture into for young aspirants. The applications of food chemistry are ingenious and widespread. Interestingly many chemical compounds have a wide application in the field of food chemistry that scientists are never tired experimenting with different chemical compounds.
Scientists in Singapore have developed a green synthesis for well-defined Copper Nanowires. They are attractive as copper is 100 times cheaper than silver and 1000 times more abundant. Copper Nanowires can be synthesized in electric pressure cooker and they have a wide application in Conductive Networks. Copper Nanowires hold a great promise for the fabrication of low-cost transparent electrodes.
However, their current synthesis is mainly performed in aqueous media with poor nanowire dispersibility. We report herein the novel synthesis of ultralong single-crystalline Copper nanowires with excellent dispersibility, providing an excellent candidate material for high-performance transparent electrode fabrication.
Applications of Copper nanowires
Most printed electronics applications rely on some kind of ink formulated with conductive materials. Silver nanowires, due to their superior conductivity and intrinsic flexibility, have become a popular choice for fabricating the required flexible and stretchable electrodes.
The use of copper which is much cheaper and more abundant as an alternative electrode material to silver would dramatically reduce the cost of these nanowire materials. Despite these advantages, Copper Nanowires face a serious bottleneck for future practical use in flexible and stretchable optoelectronics, although they are nearly as conductive as silver, this conductivity is not stable.
Researchers have successfully shown how conductive Copper Nanowires elastomer fuses with superior performance stability even under conditions of stretching, twisting, oxidation and bending. These nanoproducts have made the applications of science very interesting and hold a major significance in day to day lives.
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