Abstract
In this study, indium tin oxide nanowires (ITO NWs) with high density and crystallinity were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) via a vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) route; the NWs were decorated with 1 at% and 3 at% silver nanoparticles on the surface by a unique electrochemical method. The ITO NWs possessed great morphologies with lengths of 5~10 μm and an average diameter of 58.1 nm. Characterization was conducted through transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) to identify the structure and composition of the ITO NWs. The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) studies show that the ITO NWs were of visible light-emitting properties, and there were a large number of oxygen vacancies on the surface. The successful modification of Ag was confirmed by TEM, XRD and XPS. PL analysis reveals that there was an extra Ag signal at around 1.895 eV, indicating the potential application of Ag-ITO NWs as nanoscale optical materials. Electrical measurements show that more Ag nanoparticles on the surface of ITO NWs contributed to higher resistivity, demonstrating the change in the electron transmission channel of the Ag-ITO NWs. ITO NWs and Ag-ITO NWs are expected to enhance the performance of electronic and optoelectronic devices.
Highlights
Academic Editor: Riccardo RuraliWith the development of nanotechnology, nanodevices are undergoing a huge upgrade over the past few years
Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) with excellent characteristics of high light transmission and low resistivity; it is extensively used in optoelectronic products, including liquid crystal displays [4], solar cells [5], flat-panel displays [6], and light-emitting diodes [7]
We report a unique two-step method to synthesize Ag nanoparticledecorated indium tin oxide (ITO) (Ag-ITO) NWs
Summary
With the development of nanotechnology, nanodevices are undergoing a huge upgrade over the past few years. To fulfill the requirements of this technology, studies have been conducted on diverse nanomaterials [1–3]. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) with excellent characteristics of high light transmission and low resistivity; it is extensively used in optoelectronic products, including liquid crystal displays [4], solar cells [5], flat-panel displays [6], and light-emitting diodes [7]. With low resistance and abundant lattice defects on the surface, ITO can be used as gas sensor materials [8,9]. ITO thin films have been studied extensively by several researchers [11–13]; there have been relatively few reports on one-dimensional ITO NWs and even fewer studies on modified-ITO NWs
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