Capillary-Welded Silver Nanowire Networks Enabling Decoupled Multimodal Wearable Sensing and Transparent Electrothermal Heating

Transparent wearable electronics integrating strain sensing, temperature detection, and electrothermal heating remain challenging due to weak adhesion between nanowires and substrates, as well as coupled signal responses. Here, we report a transparent PET/Ag NW/PVA film fabricated via rapid vapor-induced capillary welding and polymer encapsulation strategy. Brief vapor-exposure generates uniform droplets on silver nanowire, while evaporation-induced capillary force reinforces nanowire junctions at room-temperature without substrate damage. The PVA encapsulation layer further enhances interfacial adhesion and stabilizes the percolative network. The resulting electrode exhibited high transparency (∼85% at 550 nm) and low sheet resistance (22–35 Ω sq –1 ). The stabilized network enabled reliable strain sensing over 1600 bending cycles, thermoresistive detection from 0–50 °C ( R 2 = 0.986), and uniform electrothermal output up to ∼52 °C at 5 V. The distinct temporal responses enabled effective signal decoupling, allowing robust multimodal sensing within a single transparent architecture.