Synthesis and characterization of antimovy-doped tin oxide nanophase materials for electrochromic applications

摘要

Antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) nanophase materials containing up to 43 molepercent antimony have been synthesized by a wet-chemistry method. These ATO materials exhibit enhanced electrochromic properties for display devices. The performance of the display devices is related tot he nanostructure of the synthesized ATO materials. The average sizes of the ATO nanocrystallites depend on dopant level, annealing conditions, and synthesis processes. Antimony inhibits the growth of tin dioxide nanocrystallites during annealing at moderate temperatures. At higher annealing temperatures, however, antimony segregates to form separate oxide phases and ATO nanocrystallites grow significantly. A systematic study of the structural evolution of the synthesized ATO materials is presented and the relationship between the nanostructure of the ATO materials and the enhanced performance of the corresponding electrochromic devices is discussed.