Direct synthesis of highly crystalline transparent conducting oxide nanoparticles by low pressure spray pyrolysis

In this article, we firstly reported a general preparation method for the production of highly crystallized and single crystalline transparent conducting oxide (TCO) nanoparticles: tin-doped indium oxide (ITO), zinc-doped indium oxide (IZO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), and gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO). Low-pressure spray pyrolysis was applied by means of a modified-atomizer and preheated carrier gas. The effects of pyrolysis pressure, temperature and carrier gas temperature on the size and morphology of the synthesized TCO nanoparticles were systematically investigated. The synthesized TCO nanoparticles were 17 nm large with crystallite size of 8–11 nm. The resistivities of the formed pellets were measured and compared. These results showed that this method successfully produces various TCO nanoparticles using neither dispersing agents nor post-heating treatments, which allows rapid, continuous, single-step preparation.