Silver-coated copper nanowires with improved anti-oxidation property as conductive fillers in low-density polyethylene

Silver-coated copper nanowires (AgCuNWs) are prepared by chemical plating method with copper nanowires (CuNWs) and Ag-amine reagent. The prepared AgCuNWs with silver content of 66.52wt.%, diameter 2833nm exhibited improved anti-oxidation behaviour. The silver coating on AgCuNWs can effectively reduce the formation of copper oxide under room temperature. The temperature at which nanowires begin to gain weight can be improved from 85 to 230 degrees C and the maximum weight gain can be decreased from 20.3% to 3.2% by applying silver coating. The volume electrical resistivity of the AgCuNWs filled low-density polyethylene nanocomposites is lower than that of the CuNWs filled low-density polyethylene nanocomposites with same volume percentage of fillers because the silver content in the AgCuNWs is not oxidised during compression moulding. (c) 2012 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering