Oxidation-resistant metallized nanofibers as transparent conducting films and heaters

Transparent conducting films (TCFs) and transparent heaters (THs) are of interest for a wide variety of applications, from displays to window defrosters. Here, we demonstrate production of highly flexible, conducting, and transparent nickel (Ni) electrodes suitable for use not only in TCFs and THs but also in some other engineering applications. The merging of fibers at their intersections (i.e. self-junctioning) minimizes contact resistance in these films. The Ni electrodes exhibited a remarkably low sheet resistance of 0.73 Ω sq⁻¹ at an optical transmittance of 93%. This low sheet resistance allows them to serve as low-voltage heaters, achieving a heating temperature of 373 °C at an applied voltage of 2 V. The innate corrosion resistance of Ni allows these electrodes to be used in air at temperatures exceeding 200 °C, and it is expected to help the electrodes to find wide use in a range of industrial applications requiring long-term electrode service. Furthermore, we fabricated perfectly core-shell-structured Cu/Ni electrodes, which exhibited both the excellent electrical properties of Cu and the high corrosion resistance of Ni.