Transparent conductive stannic oxide coatings employing an ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique: The relevance of the molarity content in the aerosol solution for improvement the electrical properties

Abstract

Highly transparent conductive stoichiometric nanocrystalline stannic oxide coatings were deposited onto Corning® EAGLE XG® slim glass substrates. Including each coating, it was deposited for various concentrations in the aerosol solution with the substrate temperature maintained at 623.15 K by an ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) technique. Nitrogen was employed both as the solution carrier in addition to aerosol directing gas, maintaining its flow rates at 3500.0 and 500.0 mL/min, respectively. The coatings were polycrystalline, with preferential growth along the stannic oxide (112) plane, irrespective of the molarity content in the spray solution. The coating prepared at 0.2 M, a concentration in the aerosol solution, showed an average transmission of 60% in the visible light region spectrum with a maximum conductivity of 24.86 S/cm. The coatings deposited exhibited in the general photoluminescence spectrum emission colors of green, greenish white, and bluish white calculated on the intensities of the excitonic and oxygen vacancy defect level emissions.