Continuous Draw Spinning of Extra-Long Silver Submicron Fibers with Micrometer Patterning Capability.
Ultrathin metal fibers can serve as highly conducting and flexible current and heat transport channels, which are essential for numerous applications ranging from flexible electronics to energy conversion. Although industrial production of metal fibers with diameters of down to 2 μm is feasible, continuous production of high-quality and low-cost nanoscale metal wires is still challenging. Herein, we report the continuous draw spinning of highly conductive silver submicron fibers with the minimum diameter of ∼200 nm and length of more than kilometers. We obtained individual AgNO3/polymer fibers by continuous drawing from an aqueous solution at a speed of up to 8 m/s. With subsequent heat treatment, freestanding Ag submicron fibers with high mechanical flexibility and electric conductivity have been obtained. Woven mats of aligned Ag submicron fibers were used as transparent electrodes with high flexibility and high performance with sheet resistance of 7 Ω sq-1at a transparency of 96%. Continuous draw spinning opened new avenues for scalable, flexible, and ultralow-cost fabrication of extra-long conductive ultrathin metal fibers.
State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Xiaopeng
0000-0002-5769-9700
X
Bai
State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Suiyang
S
Liao
State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Ya
Y
Huang
State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Jianan
J
Song
School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences , Beijing, 100083 China.
Zhenglian
Z
Liu
School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences , Beijing, 100083 China.
Minghao
M
Fang
State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Chencheng
C
Xu
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, California 94305, United States.
Yi
Y
Cui
State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Hui
0000-0002-4284-5541
H
Wu
Silver submicron fibers; continuous draw spinning; flexible electronics; micrometer patterning