Highly stable low-voltage operating mobile transparent heaters based on spray-coated MXene/silver nanowire nanocomposite electrodes powered by indoor solar cells

Herein, we demonstrate one-dimensional (1D) silver nanowires (Ag NWs) incorporated with 2D MXenes as a functional nanocomposite to develop transparent electrodes for highly stable low-voltage operating transparent heaters (THs) fabricated by all-solution processes. The nanocomposite-based transparent electrode on glass exhibits a low sheet resistance and high optical transmittance of 10.3 Ω/sq and 82 %, respectively, comparable to those of indium tin oxides (ITOs) as conventional transparent conductive films. Furthermore, the TH based on MXene/Ag NWs/ITO, exhibits a significantly low sheet resistance of 2.8 Ω/sq, thereby achieving high heating temperatures of over 300 °C within 80 s at an applied voltage of 5 V. Additionally, we demonstrate a self-powered mobile TH integrated with an indoor solar cell to effectively remove water droplets without an external power source as a sustainable heating technology. In addition to high heating temperatures at the relatively low operating voltages, exceptional long-term durability of 10 d and operational reliability after 500 repeated cycles are achieved; this can be attributed to the incorporation with MXene, which acts as a protective coating layer, suppressing the oxidation of Ag NWs while maintaining low sheet resistance.