Copper nanowires bring flexible solar nearer

摘要

Chemists at Duke University, US, have developed a new way to produce copper nanowires in quantity, which could lead to cheap flexible solar panels and electronics. Nanowires presently used as transparent electrodes in thin-film electronics such as flat-screen televisions and in thin-film solar cells are generally made of indium tin oxide, which is effective but expensive due to the rarity of indium. Indium tin oxide nanowires are also very brittle, making them unsuitable for flexible electronics. Copper is a thousand times more abundant on Earth and copper nanowires are very flexible.