Preparation of Nanostructured Fluorine Doped Tin Oxide (FTO) by Hydrothermal Method

Asyikin Sasha Mohd Hanif,Fariza Mohamad,Mohd Khairul Ahmad,Weng Kuen Lau ,Wan Suhaimizan Wan Zaki

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.773-774.632

Asyikin Sasha Mohd Hanif, Fariza Mohamad + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.773-774.632

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Abstract

This study demonstrates the fabrication of nanostructured FTO by hydrothermal method. It was directly synthesized on FTO glass substrate by using pentahydrated stannic chloride (SnCl4.5H2O) and ammonium fluoride (NH4F) as precursors. Different synthesis time was applied which were 5h, 10h and 24h. The characteristics of nanostructured FTO were investigated via field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), two-point probe current-voltage test and ultraviolet visible spectrometer (UV-Vis). The FESEM images revealed the growth of nanosized particles layer on the FTO substrate. The electrical properties studied have shown a degeneration of conductivity as the thickness of nanostructured layer increased. UV-Vis results showed the decrement of transmittance as the time duration increased. It was revealed through FESEM characterization that the nanostructured FTO can be improved by using dibutyltin diacetate (DBTA) as a precursor.

Highlights

Transparent conducting oxides (TCO) have been extensively studied over the past decades due to its wide band gap which improvised the high optical transmittance with low electrical resistivity, low thermal emittance and high infrared reflectivity [1,2]
It can be seen that the grain size and its distribution were greatly influenced by the synthesis time duration where the grain size increased when the time duration increased
The fabrication of nanostructured FTO thin film was done by varying the time duration during hydrothermal process

Summary

Introduction

Transparent conducting oxides (TCO) have been extensively studied over the past decades due to its wide band gap which improvised the high optical transmittance (up to 90%) with low electrical resistivity (i.e. few times 10-4 Ω cm), low thermal emittance and high infrared reflectivity [1,2]. We made an attempt to prepare nanostructured FTO film for higher conductivity, higher optical transparency and low resistivity via hydrothermal method. This study focuses on the behavior of nanostructured FTO thin film in terms of structural, morphological and optical properties.

Results

Conclusion