Hem

Broadening the functionality of gold nanowires from electronics to energy & beyond!

This project explores the use of gold nanowires (AuNWs) as multifunctional building blocks for transparent conductors, printed & flexible electronics and emerging energy-related applications.

Research focus

  • Synthesis of well-defined high-aspect-ratio AuNWs
  • Formulation of AuNW-based inks for large-area printing methods
  • Designing electrode concepts for transparent conductors, soft electronics & energy storage devices
  • Intergrating AuNW electrodes into flexible & printed solar cells and soft microbatteries.

Why gold nanowires?

Nanowires (NW) are 1D nanomaterials that have significant advantages over its bulk and nanoparticle counterparts (3D Spherical, and 2D flakes). Their high-aspect ratio structure forms a mesh-like morphology with a highly connected percolation network that has: (i) electrical pathways for high conductivity, (ii) high surface area for interactions with the external environment (e.g., chemical sensing, or electrolyte for energy storage), (iii) the ability to dissipate mechanical stress to embed flexibility, and (iv) gaps in between the NW (particularly longer ones,> 50μm) mesh allows for light to pass through for transparency while retaining conductivity and mechanical integrity. These unique material properties have led to potential technological applications ranging from stretchable electronics (e.g., e-skin patches, neural implants), transparent conducting electrodes (TCE) for flexible solar cells and LEDs and high sensitivity chemical sensors for environmental & health monitoring.

Limitations in the state-of-the-art

NWs for electronics are typically based on silver and copper (Ag/Cu NWs). They can be formulated into inks that are solution-processable, and their mechanical flexibility permits large-area roll-to-roll printing and used as electrodes for flexible and stretchable electronics applications. However, wider commercial adoption is hindered by its poor environmental and electrochemical stability in ambient conditions, especially under prolonged UV, oxygen and water exposure which is detrimental for long term device performance. Replacing Ag and Cu with a more chemically stable, inert and biocompatible element, such as gold (Au) would significantly improve stability. Existing AuNWs are generally short, with lengths below < 12 μm, due to the use of seeding methods or soft templates during synthesis that restricts crystal growth and tuneability of the Au structures. Commercially available AuNWs are generally short and are extremely expensive (> 1 million USD/g), likely due to the difficulty in the synthesis. The short AuNWs are primarily used for niche applications that require small amounts of active material such as neural probes. The high cost and difficult synthesis has limited the potential of expanding the material functions for the AuNWs.

Our solution is an AuNano Ink platform technology

The long-term objective is to produce scalable high quality AuNWs in a cost-effective manner that makes it commercially attractive for industrial relevant applications such as large area printed electronics (e.g., solar cells, LEDs, sensors) and potentially expanding it towards next-generation wearable electronic devices such as soft microbatteries, smart contact lenses and e-skin patches.

AuNW technology
Figure 1. The AuNW technology. a) The AuNano Ink Platform, b) AuNW Material Functions and c) electrode manufacturing.

Commercialisation Efforts

For more information about the commercialisation of this technology, visit the AuNano AB company website.

The Team

  • Professor Klas Tybrandt (Supervisor, Chief Scientific Advisor of AuNano AB)
  • Assistant Professor Aiman Rahmanudin (Supervisor, Researcher Entrepreneur, Chief technology Officer of AuNano AB)
  • Dr. Venkata Kishore Perla (Postdoctoral Researcher at LiU, Device Engineer of AuNano AB)
  • Jakob von Heideken (Research Engineer at LiU, Principal Chemist of AuNano AB)

Funding

  • The project is supported by the Zenith Career Grant no.25.10 and Material Science for Sustainable Technologies (MATTER) Grant by Linköping University and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) Proof-of-concept grant 2024.0393.