Electrical and Optical Anisotropy in Flow-aligned Silver Nanowires

We prepare semi-transparent coatings consisting of silver nanowire (AgNW) networks with various degrees of alignment and study how the alignment of nanowires affects the electrical and optical anisotropy of the coatings. Specifically, we utilize the rapid flow of AgNW suspension through a confined geometry to prepare a layer of AgNW network on glass substrates and are able to control the degree of alignment by varying the flow rate. The angle-dependent sheet resistance of the coatings is measured, and large anisotropy in surface conductivity is found to characterize the aligned AgNW networks. We also find angle-dependent intensity and spectrum for transmitted, reflected, and scattered visible light by aligned nanowire coatings, resulting in different transparencies and colors depending on the orientation relative to the polarized light source.