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Jiawen Hu, Xidong Duan, Hunan University, Changsha, China, Xiangfeng Duan, University of California, Los Angeles, USA, and colleagues have developed a fast electrochemical cleaning method for silver nanowire thin films that removes the PVP ligands. The team used a three-electrode electrochemical setup to polarize the thin films to −0.85 V (versus a standard reversible hydrogen electrode) in a nitrogen-saturated solution of NaClO₄ for just 15 s. The thin films were supported on a glassy carbon electrode, platinum was used as the counter-electrode, and a Hg/Hg₂SO₄ electrode was used as the reference electrode.

According to the researchers, the polarization causes a hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on the surface, during which hydrogen atoms are adsorbed and displace the PVP ligands. The hydrogen atoms are converted to H₂ and leave the surface. The electrochemical cleaning significantly improves the conductivity of the silver nanowire thin films.

via chemistryviews.org