Chemical resistant silver nanowire/cellulose nanofibril flexible transparent conductive coatings

In this research, a coating method is developed to produce chemical resistant transparent conductive films (TCFs). First, cellulose nanofibers are ultrasonicated to physically untangled into thinner units. Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are then mixed with the ultrasonicated cellulose nanofibers (uCNF), which serve as a dispersion agent for stable coating fluids. After coating on a flexible substrate by a blade coating procedure, the uCNFs wrap over AgNWs to form a thin protecting layer, and the embedded AgNWs exhibit a highly percolating conductive network. As a result, the coating shows not only a low sheet resistance of 7.5 Ω/square with a great transparency of 91.5 % transmittance, but also an excellent adhesion under bending conditions. Additionally, the chemical and mechanical stability of the TCF can be further improved by cross-linking with citric acid. The ester bonding between the crosslinked uCNF rods provides a continuous hydrophobic network with a more compact structures for great mechanical stability under bending or ultrasonication conditions. Moreover, the crosslinked TCF shows high chemical tolerance and remain conductive after submerged in strong acid or basic solutions. The crosslinked TCF exhibits a high transparency and conductivity with a high figure of merit factor of 515, much better than many AgNW-based TCF, and can be used for various optoelectronic applications. •A facile one-step coating method for transparent conductive film (TCF) with high transparency and conductivity is developed•Cellulose nanofiber are ultrasonicated into thinner units and used as a dispersion agent to provide a stable TCF coating fluid•The coating shows great transparency and conductivity with a figure of merit up to 515•The mechanical stability of the coatings is improved by cross-linking reaction.•Cross-linked TCF shows high chemical tolerance and remain conductive after submerged in strong acid and basic.