Enhanced flexural strength and optoelectrical properties of AgNW/GZO composite electrodes on flexible glass via atmospheric pressure plasma jet

• First comparison of APPJ-made AgNW/GZO with GZO and ITO on flexible substrate. • Optimal 3.2 µg/cm 2 AgNW gives high transparency and low resistance. • AgNW/GZO shows 3.8% resistance rise vs. ITO’s 11% after 4000 bending cycles. • AgNW/GZO outperforms ITO and GZO in structural and electrical stability. Flexible optoelectronic devices require transparent conductive electrodes with high conductivity, transparency, and mechanical durability. Indium tin oxide (ITO), though widely used, is too brittle for flexible applications. Gallium-doped ZnO (GZO) offers comparable optoelectronic properties but lacks flexibility, whereas silver nanowires (AgNWs) provide flexibility and conductivity but suffer from long-term instability. To overcome these limitations, we developed AgNW/GZO composite electrodes on ultra-thin (0.1 mm) Corning® Willow® glass using a one-step atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) process that enables simultaneous AgNW junction welding and GZO deposition. The optimized composite achieves a figure of merit of 8.76 × 10 –3 Ω −1 (60 % higher than pure GZO), 81.4 % transmittance at 550 nm (including ∼ 10 % substrate loss), 22 Ω/sq sheet resistance, and 9.37 % haze. This work presents the first systematic investigation of the mechanical durability of APPJ-fabricated AgNW composite films. After 4000 bending cycles, the sheet resistance increased by only 3.8 %, outperforming GZO (7.1 %) and ITO (11 %). These findings highlight the potential of APPJ-fabricated AgNW/GZO composites as robust, scalable, and high-performance transparent electrodes for next-generation flexible optoelectronic applications.