Enhancement of electrical and thermal properties of silver nanowire transparent conductive electrode by Ag coating

•AgNWs prepared by polyol method show high aspect ratio (∼1000) and yield, small evarage diameter of ∼40 nm.•The electrical and thermal properties of AgNW TCEs were strongly improved after coating a silver layer on the surface of AgNWs to weld junctions.•After coating a silver layer on AgNWs, the sheet resistance was reduced from ∼247 to ∼10 Ω/□.•The best Ag-coated AgNW TCEs shows a sheet resistance of 8.5 Ω/□, transmittance of 85.4% at 550 nm and FOM value of 271 Ω−1.