| New methods of arranging silver nanowires make them more durable, shows a study by KAUST. These nanowires form flexible, transparent conductive layers that can be used for improved solar cells, strain sensors and next-generation mobile phones. | |
| Applying nanotechnology in electronic devices requires rigorous testing of individual tiny components to ensure they will stand up to use. Silver nanowires show great promise as connectors that could be arranged in flexible, near-transparent meshes for touchscreens or solar cells, but it is unclear how they will respond to prolonged stresses from bending and carrying current. | |
| Testing the bulk properties of a large sample of nanoparticles is easy, but not completely revelatory. However, adopting transmission electron microscopy (TEM) makes it possible to examine individual nanoparticles. Ph.D. student Nitin Batra andhis supervisor Pedro Da Costa are at the forefront of developing new TEM techniques. This has allowed them to study single silver nanowires in detail (Nanoscale, “Current-induced restructuring in bent silver nanowires”). |
Image Credit: KAUST
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