Ultralight Conductive Silver Nanowire Aerogels

Low-density metal foams have many potential applications in electronics, energy storage, catalytic supports, fuel cells, sensors, and medical devices. Here, we report a new method for fabricating ultralight, conductive silver aerogel monoliths with predictable densities using silver nanowires. Silve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nano letters 2017-12, Vol.17 (12), p.7171-7176
Main Authors: Qian, Fang, Lan, Pui Ching, Freyman, Megan C, Chen, Wen, Kou, Tianyi, Olson, Tammy Y, Zhu, Cheng, Worsley, Marcus A, Duoss, Eric B, Spadaccini, Christopher M, Baumann, Ted, Han, T. Yong-Jin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aerogel
conductive
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Metal foams
NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
silver nanowires
ultralight
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Summary:Low-density metal foams have many potential applications in electronics, energy storage, catalytic supports, fuel cells, sensors, and medical devices. Here, we report a new method for fabricating ultralight, conductive silver aerogel monoliths with predictable densities using silver nanowires. Silver nanowire building blocks were prepared by polyol synthesis and purified by selective precipitation. Silver aerogels were produced by freeze-casting nanowire aqueous suspensions followed by thermal sintering to weld the nanowire junctions. As-prepared silver aerogels have unique anisotropic microporous structures, with density precisely controlled by the nanowire concentration, down to 4.8 mg/cm3 and an electrical conductivity up to 51 000 S/m. Mechanical studies show that silver nanowire aerogels exhibit “elastic stiffening” behavior with a Young’s modulus up to 16 800 Pa.
ISSN:1530-6984
1530-6992
DOI:10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b02790