Preparation and Optoelectrical Property of Silver Nanowire Transparent Conductive Film via Slot Die Coating
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript titled "Preparation and Optoelectrical Properties of AgNW Transparent Conductive Film by Slot-Die Coating" describes the preparation and characterization of AgNW transparent conductive films. I have noted some comments and provided them below:
Q.1 The experimental section mentions “Injection speed, coating speed, and coating height of the slot–die coating equipment were set, and the ink was coated on the PET surface to form a liquid film.” The range of these parameters should be included.
Q.2 The diameter of the four-probe instrument tips used for measurements should be mentioned in the experimental section.
Q.3 The units throughout the manuscript, tables, and figures are written after a "/". This should be corrected to parentheses. For example, "Coating height, h/μm" should be "Coating height, h (μm)".
Q.4 Hâ‚‚O and EtOH are identical for all samples in Table 1. These could be mentioned in the text or as a footnote instead of being listed repeatedly in the table.
Q.5 For figures showing mean values, it should be clarified whether these are averages from multiple samples or multiple measurements on a single sample. The statistical method used should also be mentioned.
Q.6 In the results and discussion section, many statements lack references. For example: 'During the coating process, AgNWs are prone to aligning parallel to the direction of ink flow, preventing effective connections and resulting in a large sheet resistance of the film.' Please provide references for any statements that are not supported by experimental results.
Q.7 Many important figures are given in Supplements. TEM images could be moved to the main text.
Q.8 Figures in the supplementary material are not well explained. For example, in Figure S1, it is stated that “a large number of flaky particles appeared on the surface of AgNW TCFs prepared using CMC.” The type of CMC used should be specified.
Q.9 Figure S3 shows FESEM images of Ag nanowires without flaky particles. The preparation conditions of these samples and the reason for the absence of flaky particles should be explained.
Q.10 In Supplementary Figure 6, what D2, E2, and F2 represent should be mentioned clearly.
Q.11 The figures in the manuscript are too small. Their size should be increased, and labels like (a), (b), and (c) should be placed inside the figures.
Q.12 Figures should be analyzed properly. The main findings, such as the optimized values for sheet resistance, transmittance, and haze, should be included in the text to complement the figures in all sections, not just in the final section.
Q.13 The statement “TCFs with the same sheet resistance, prepared using 30 and 45 nm AgNWs, exhibit higher visible light transmittance compared to those prepared using 20 nm AgNWs” is unusual. Additional explanations are needed, and transmittance spectra should be provided to confirm this observation.
Q.14 Transmittance spectra for most samples are missing. Only one graph (Figure S6) shows the transmittance. These should be included in the manuscript or supplementary material with proper labeling.
Q.15 If SEM images of the optimized coating (e.g., 30:45 nm AgNWs in a 2:1 volume ratio) are available, these should be included. Comments on the presence of flaky particles in these samples would be useful.
Q.16 The authors must compare the results in this work with other work in the literature to provide a comprehensive understanding of how their findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe paper titled with “reparation and optoelectrical property of AgNW transparent conductive film by slot–die coating” reported preparation of AgNW ink using various diameters of AgNWs to print AgNW TCFs through slot–die coating method on utilize ultra–thin polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films substrate. The authors optimized the process parameters of slot–die coating and the formulation composition of AgNW ink for enhanced optoelectrical properties of AgNW TCFs. The study is very interesting considering the application of AgNW transparent conductive film by slot–die coating in photovoltaics. Thus, I recommend following major revisions to accept. The comments are:
1. In the abstract, include more results such as concentrations and compositions for best performing one.
2. Introduction must be updated. The authors mentioned that there are limited reports on the preparation of AgNW TCFs via slot–die coating. I would suggest to include some studies in details and write the research gap highlighting their limitations and the best performance achieved using slot–die coating.
3. The autors should provide UV-vis-NIR absorption spectra of the AgNW dispersion solution to verify uniform dispersion and Beer-Lambert Law for the concentration.
4. Mention stirring speed and why is it 30 mins? What happen for less or more?
5. Include the details of slot–die coating equipment, such as, specification, manufacturer.
6. CMC I-V is difficult to understand. Please include a table describing the differences and properties. Table 1 should include definition for the variables such as VPVA etc. It better you move everything in the main manuscript as SI is short.
7. Preparation process of AgNW ink and AgNW TCFs must include i) volume of CMC colloidal solution, PVA colloidal solution, ultrapure water, ethanol and AgNW solution. Also what about the concentration of resultant ink? How much was transparency? How much was the viscosity? Please write all these in details.
8. The authors are requires to calculate process yield. i.e. How ink was wasted? How much ink is needed for a specific thinness? How long it takes to fabricate a film?
9. Why did you called the thickness as coating height? What was the coating height/thickness before drying and after drying? How much was the shrinkage?
10. The authors claim that an increase in coating height results in a more compact stacking of AgNWs. But this is very difficult to understand just looking at the SEM images. Authors are required to analyze these images and provide density variations for each coating heights. You can use ImageJ. Why did you put SEM images in supporting information file? These SEM image must be in the main manuscript.
11. The author should include transmission section of all the samples in the supporting information file.
12. Figure S6. UV-vis spectra of PET and AgNW TCFs. Must be explained as it is difficult to understand. What do you mean by D2, E2, F2?
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsComments to the Authors:
The current experimental work examined the different formulations of silver nanowire based inks towards the creation of uniform large-area films employing slot-die technique. Subsequently, authors systematically studied the corresponding optoelectronic properties of the obtained transparent conductive films onto flexible PET substrate in relation to the slot-die coating parameters optimization. The investigation is interesting, application oriented and the main findings are suitable within the scope of Coatings journal. Overall, the workflow and the linguistic standards requires extensive improvements and major revisions based on the following points:
Comment #1: Multiple terminology issues should be taking into account e.g. optoelectronic properties instead of optoelectrical, “researchers have constructed an interconnected conductive network of ..”, “better flexibility” etc.. Please check again the whole manuscript.
Comment #2: Within the “Materials and Methods” sub-section authors need to provide the specific missing details for the used slot–die coating equipment and processing conditions e.g., heated drum or stage, syringe pump selected rates etc..
Comment #3: It is strongly recommended to replace Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 with high-resolution images and increased fonts.
Comment #4: One of the most critical aspect within the introduced experimentation (except for the durability of the transparent conductive films which could be assessed via bending cycle tests as a function of electrical conductivity) correlates with the resistance to oxidation of the silver nanowire based resulted films in order to be considered suitable for devices. Additionally, the annealing conditions except for the drying stage is vitally important in order to ensure optimal electronic properties. Authors need to take into account and properly comment on the abovementioned open issues.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageMultiple terminology issues should be taking into account.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors have implemented most of my comments. It can be accepted.
Author Response
Thank you for the suggestions.
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsRegarding comment #4, authors should include their explanations e.g. in conclusions section.
Author Response
Thank you for the suggestion，we have supplemented our explanations for comment #4 in conclusions section.
