Patterned silver nanowire (AgNW) networks have been widely used as transparent electrodes in many optoelectrical devices. However, obvious patterning visibility and poor thermostability of AgNW are still limiting its practical application. Herein, we report self-assembled monolayer (SAM) modulated Plateau-Rayleigh instability (PRI) of AgNW, which allows invisible patterning and superior stability of the AgNW network. Two opposite effects of different SAMs on the PRI are identified: the alkanethiol SAMs activate surface atom diffusion while the mercaptobenzoheterocyclic (MBH) SAMs suppress the diffusion. The degradation temperature of the AgNWs can be therefore, for the first time, tuned in the range of 193–381 °C, so that the AgNW network can be patterned via PRI with a tiny optical difference between the insulative and conductive regions, i.e., patterning invisible. Besides, the MBH SAMs provide AgNW with excellent durability under thermal annealing and oxidation, which enhances the maximum heating temperature of the AgNW transparent heater by over 120 °C. Beyond the micro-patterning, we consider that the developed SAM strategy can be extended to other metal nanowires for stability improvement and has huge potential in nanoengineering of one-dimensional metal materials.

Silver nanowire (AgNW) based transparent electrode (TE) plays a pivotal role in optoelectronics where TE is generally required to have fine pattern and high performance. Despite the rapid technological advances in either welding or patterning of AgNWs, there are few studies that combine the two processes in a simple and practical manner. Here, aiming to fabricate high-performance patterned AgNW TE, we develop a simplified photolithography that enables both plasmonic nanowelding with low-level UV exposure (20 mW/cm²) and high-resolution micropatterning without photoresist and etching process by conjugating AgNW with diphenyliodonium nitrate (DPIN) and UV-curable cellulose. The cellulose as a binder can effectively enhance plasmonic heating, adhesion, and stability, while the photosensitive DPIN, capable of modulating surface atom diffusion, can boost the plasmonic welding at AgNW junction and induce patterning in AgNW network with Plateau-Rayleigh instability. The fabricated AgNW TE has high figure of merit of up to 1, 000 (3.7 Ω/sq at 90% transmittance) and minimal pattern size down to 3 µm, along with superior robustness. Finally, a flexible smart window with high performance is demonstrated using the patterned and welded AgNW TEs, verifying the applicability of the simplified photolithography technique to optoelectronic devices.