Microstructural, electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles synthesized by co-precipitation method

摘要

In the present study, the synthesis of Tin doped indium oxide (ITO) nanopowder at different compositions (In/Sn = 0,5,10,15 at %) was carried out by co-precipitation method. The decomposition of precipitated indium tin acetylacetonate precursor to form lN_2O_3-SnO_2 (Sn_(1-x)In_xO_2) at 400 C was confirmed by the thermal and FTIR studies. The changes in strain and grain size of the synthesized particle with respect to dopant concentration were determined from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images support to confirm the grain size. The optical properties on ITO nanoparticles were analyzed with UV-visible spectroscopy, and band gap was found to vary from 3.62 to 3.89 eV with Sn dopant concentration. This variation was ascribed to the quantum confinement effect.