Investigation of light transmission and scattering properties in silver nanowire mesh transparent electrodes

• Ag nanowires were synthesized according to ethylene glycol heating method.
• Ag NW film samples were obtained by spin-coat method.
• Comparison of optical properties of Ag NWs, commercial ITO, FTO films.
• Ag NW film exhibits high transmittance (81.56%), large haze factor (6.37%).
• Ag NW films exhibit nearly unity scattering properties in wavelength 300 to 1000 nm.

Silver nanowire mesh is a promising replacement for indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent electrodes for optoelectronic devices. In this article, effective light scattering by Ag nanowires (Ag NWs) are investigated. Compared with commercial FTO and ITO, we demonstrated that Ag nanowires exhibit better optical transmission and light-scattering properties in all wavelength regions. Combined with the ease of preparation and low cost, our results indicated that Ag NWs are a promising candidate for use as a transparent conductive material for thin film solar cells.

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