Silver nanowire/polyaniline composite transparent electrode with improved surface properties

[Display omitted] •AgNWs/PANI transparent electrode was prepared by layer-by-layer coating method.•The surface roughness of the electrode reached to 6.5nm (root mean square).•The electrode had reasonable sheet resistance (25Ω/□) and transmittance (83.5%). Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are as potential candidates to replace indium tin oxide (ITO) in transparent electrodes because of their preferred conducting and optical properties. However, their rough surface properties are not favorable for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices, such as displays and thin-film solar cells. In the present investigation, AgNWs/polyaniline composite transparent electrodes with better surface properties were successfully prepared. AgNWs were incorporated into polyaniline:polystyrene sulfonate (PANI:PSS) by layer-by-layer coating and mechanical pressing. PANI:PSS decreased the surface roughness of the AgNWs electrode by filling the gap of the random AgNWs network. The transparent composite electrode had decreased surface roughness (root mean square 6.5nm) with reasonable sheet resistance (25Ω/□) and transmittance (83.5%).