Reduced haze of transparent conductive films by smaller diameter silver nanowires.

Silver nanowires (Ag NWs) have received considerable attention for flexible transparent conductive films (TCFs) since they provide a relatively low sheet resistance at a high transmittance. However, the diffuse light scattering, haze, has been regarded as a hurdle to achieve clarity of films. Here we revisit the Mie scattering theory to calculate the extinction and scattering coefficients of Ag NWs which were employed to estimate haze of TCFs. The theory predicted a decrease in haze with a decrease in Ag NW diameter which was supported by experimental investigations carried out using Ag NWs with 5 different diameters (17.6, 19.9, 22.5, 24.3, and 29.6 nm). Overall, excellent properties of TCFs (haze = 0.21%-1.8%, transmittance = 95.33%-98.45%, sheet resistance = 20.87-81.76 Ω sq-1) were obtained. Ag NWs with a diameter of 17.6 nm provided minimum haze values at equivalent sheet resistances (e.g., haze = 0.21%, transmittance = 98.45%, sheet resistance = 77.36 Ω sq-1) compared with ones with lager diameters and the controls in literatures. This work investigated the interdependence between haze and NW diameter and might provide a design guide for flexible Ag NW TCFs.