Indium Tin Oxide Nanoparticles Research Articles

Interface Reactive Sputtering of Transparent Electrode for High-Performance Monolithic and Stacked Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells.

Sputtered indium tin oxide (ITO) fulfills the requirements of top transparent electrodes (TTEs) in semitransparent perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and stacked tandem solar cells (TSCs), as well as of the recombination layers in monolithic TSCs. However, the high-energy ITO particles will cause damage to the devices. Herein, the interface reactive sputtering strategy is proposed to construct cost-effective TTEs with high transmittance and excellent carrier transporting ability. Polyethylenimine (PEI) is chosen as the interface reactant that can react with sputtered ITO nanoparticles,so that, coordination compounds can be formed during the deposition process, facilitating the carrier transport at the interface of C60/PEI/ITO. Besides, the impact force of energetic ITO particles is greatly alleviated, and the intactness of the underlying C60 layer and perovskite layer is guaranteed. Thus, the prepared semitransparent subcells achieve a significantly enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.17%, surpassing those based on C60/ITO (11.64%). Moreover, the PEI-based devices demonstrate excellent storage stability, which maintains 98% of their original PCEs after 2000 h. On the strength of the interface reactive sputtering ITO electrode, a stacked all-perovskite TSC with a PCE of 26.89% and a monolithic perovskite-organic TSC with a PCE of 24.33% are successfully fabricated.

Rapid laser fabrication of indium tin oxide and polymer-derived ceramic composite thin films for high-temperature sensors

Thin-film sensors are essential for real-time monitoring of components in high-temperature environments. Traditional fabrication methods often involve complicated fabrication steps or require prolonged high-temperature annealing, limiting their practical applicability. Here, we present an approach using direct ink writing and laser scanning (DIW-LS) to fabricate high-temperature functional thin films. An indium tin oxide (ITO)/preceramic polymer (PP) ink suitable for DIW was developed. Under LS, the ITO/PP thin film shrank in volume. Meanwhile, the rapid pyrolysis of PP into amorphous precursor-derived ceramic (PDC) facilitated the faster sintering of ITO nanoparticles and improved the densification of the thin film. This process realized the formation of a conductive network of interconnected ITO nanoparticles. The results show that the ITO/PDC thin film exhibits excellent stability, with a drift rate of 4.7 % at 1000 °C for 25 h, and withstands temperatures up to 1250 °C in the ambient atmosphere. It is also sensitive to strain, with a maximum gauge factor of −6.0. As a proof of concept, we have used DIW-LS technology to fabricate a thin-film heat flux sensor on the surface of the turbine blade, capable of measuring heat flux densities over 1 MW/m2. This DIW-LS process provides a viable approach for the integrated, rapid, and flexible fabrication of thin film sensors for harsh environments.

A Mediator-Free Multi-Ply Biofuel Cell Using an Interfacial Assembly between Hydrophilic Enzymes and Hydrophobic Conductive Oxide Nanoparticles with Pointed Apexes.

Biofuel cells (BFCs) based on enzymatic electrodes hold great promise as power sources for biomedical devices. However, their practical use is hindered by low electron transfer efficiency and poor operational stability of enzymatic electrodes. Here, a novel mediator-free multi-ply BFC that overcomes these limitations and exhibits both substantially high-power output and long-term operational stability is presented. The approach involves the utilization of interfacial interaction-induced assembly between hydrophilic glucose oxidase (GOx) and hydrophobic conductive indium tin oxide nanoparticles (ITO NPs) with distinctive shapes, along with a multi-ply electrode system. For the preparation of the anode, GOx and oleylamine-stabilized ITO NPs with bipod/tripod type are covalently assembled onto the host fiber electrode composed of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and gold (Au)NPs. Remarkably, despite the contrasting hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties, this interfacial assembly approach allows for the formation of nanoblended GOx/ITO NP film, enabling efficient electron transfer within the anode. Additionally, the cathode is prepared by sputtering Pt onto the host electrode. Furthermore, the multi-ply fiber electrode system exhibits unprecedented high-power output (≈10.4mW cm-2 ) and excellent operational stability (2.1mW cm-2 , ≈49% after 60 days of continuous operation). The approach can provide a basis for the development of high-performance BFCs.

Photothermal insulation mechanism of submicron ITO hollow particles in PVDF film

In this study, submicron Sn[Formula: see text]-doped In2O3 hollow particles (indium-tin oxide (ITO)) with a lyrium shell-like surface were synthesized via solvothermal method. The appropriate addition of these particles into polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films exhibits high visible light transmission and effective UV/IR blocking properties, surpassing those of ITO nanoparticles. This can be attributed to the reduced absorption of UV/IR radiation by the hollow ITO particles, as well as their higher diffuse reflectivity and thermal insulation.

Nose-to-brain translocation and nervous system injury in response to indium tin oxide nanoparticles of long-term low-dose exposures

Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a semiconductor nanomaterial with broad application in liquid crystal displays, solar cells, and electrochemical immune sensors. It is worth noting that, with the gradual increase in worker exposure opportunities, the exposure risk in occupational production cannot be ignored. At present, the toxicity of ITO mainly focuses on respiratory toxicity. ITO inhaled through the upper respiratory tract can cause pathological changes such as interstitial pneumonia and pulmonary fibrosis. Still, extrapulmonary toxicity after nanoscale ITO nanoparticle (ITO NPs) exposure, such as long-term effects on the central nervous system, should also be of concern. Therefore, we set up exposure dose experiments (0 mg·kg−1, 3.6 mg·kg−1, and 36 mg·kg−1) based on occupational exposure limits to treat C57BL/6 mice via nasal drops for 15 weeks. Moreover, we conducted a preliminary assessment of the neurotoxicity of ITO NPs (20–30 nm) in vivo. The results indicated that ITO NPs can cause diffuse inflammatory infiltrates in brain tissue, increased glial cell responsiveness, abnormal neuronal cell lineage transition, neuronal migration disorders, and neuronal apoptosis related to the oxidative stress induced by ITO NPs exposure. Hence, our findings provide useful information for the fuller risk assessment of ITO NPs after occupational exposure.

In-situ construction of plasma-pretreated CNT networks endow the LPDS dual-layer coating with advanced thermal management and anti-static properties

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for temperature regulation have been proven to be promising for passive radiative heat dissipation. However, it remains a considerable challenge to assemble a CNTs layer in situ while simultaneously achieving horizontal electrical conductivity, vertical electrical insulation, and radiative heat dissipation. Herein, plasma pretreatment was employed to functionalize CNTs in an aqueous solution, thus improving their dispersion capability. Subsequently, a liquid-plasma-assisted particle deposition and sintering (LPDS) technology was proposed to prepare a dual-layer coating with an Al2O3-P2O5-SiO2-In2O3 glass system embedded with crystalline indium tin oxide (ITO) as the porous bottom layer and ITO-CNTs as the top layer on the aluminum alloy surface. The results show that plasma pretreatment significantly increases the deposition amount of ITO nanoparticles and functionalized CNTs on the coating surface, resulting in the transition from a single-layer composite coating to a dual-layer coating. The surface micro-/nano hierarchical structure favors strong absorptance/emittance, exhibiting a high infrared emittance of 0.94 (3-20 μm) and high solar absorptance of 0.92 (0.2-2.5 μm). Meanwhile, the surface balance temperature of the dual-layer coating is about 392 K, which is 146 K lower than that of aluminum alloy. Furthermore, the top conductive ITO-CNTs layer contributes to the low surface resistivity of 3.46×102 Ω, while the glass phase of the bottom layer ensures vertical electrical insulation with a volume resistance of 4.20×107 Ω. The process provides a new path for preparing thermal control coatings with anti-static function.

Indium tin oxide nanoparticles induced molecular rearrangement in nematic liquid crystal material

In the present article, we report the influence of indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles (NPs) on the macroscopic molecular arrangement of a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) material namely 4 cyano-4ʹ-pentylbiphenyl (5CB). To achieve the objective, we have adopted various concentrations (0.25, 0.5 and 1 wt%) of ITO NPs in 5CB and filled them in the homogeneously aligned sample cells to observe their influence on the dielectric and optical texture of the NLC under investigation. Firstly, polarizing optical micrographs under crossed polarizers were recorded to observe the uniform dispersion and miscibility of ITO NPs in the nematic phase of 5CB. These micrographs also infer the molecular rearrangement of 5CB material that is occurred under the simultaneous and cumulative anchoring effect induced by ITO NPs and aligning layers. Furthermore, the dielectric parameters (permittivity, loss and dielectric loss factor) of pristine and composites as the function of frequency, temperature and DC biasing have been studied. Surprisingly, dielectric permittivity and relaxation frequency of 0.25 wt% ITO NPs composite was found to be the maximum that is decreased with further increment in the concentration of ITO NPs. We have also confirmed the thermal stability of 0.25 wt% ITO NP-induced changes in 5CB. Apart from it, by virtue of temperature-dependent dielectric anisotropy and optical textures, we have reported a significant decrement (∼14 %) in clearing temperature of 5CB. These results will pave the way to devise a system with ITO NPs as the dopant in order to obtain desired phase transition temperature of liquid crystal materials.

Enhanced Photo-Electrochemical Responses through Photo-Responsive Ruthenium Complexes on ITO Nanoparticle Surface

The mononuclear ruthenium 1-Cl and dinuclear ruthenium 2-Cl complexes undergo a photo-induced ligand exchange in water, affording the corresponding 1-H2O and 2-H2O complexes. The use of indium tin oxide nanoparticles (nanoITOs) to explore the photo-electrochemistry of the in situ-generated 1-H2O and 2-H2O in solution revealed greater photocurrents produced by these two complexes when compared with an experiment using a buffer only. Interestingly, the high photocurrent shown by the dinuclear complex 2-H2O was accompanied by the deposition of its higher oxidation state (H2O)RuII–RuIII(OH), as evidenced with cyclic voltammetry, SEM and XPS. The IPCE and spectro-electrochemistry studies supported by TD-DFT calculations revealed the visible light harvesting ability of 1-H2O and 2-H2O in solution and the subsequent electron injection into the conduction band of the nanoITOs, enhanced in 2-H2O via a plausible chelating effect.

Surface Oxygen Vacancy Inducing Li‐Ion‐Conducting Percolation Network in Composite Solid Electrolytes for All‐Solid‐State Lithium‐Metal Batteries (Small 22/2023)

All-Solid-State Lithium-Metal Batteries In article number 2207223, Jeeyoung Yoo, Youn Sang Kim, and co-workers present an all-solid-state lithium-metal battery with composite solid electrolyte. Specifically, the oxygen vacancy-rich indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles (green-colored) induce the Li-ion conducting percolation network (red-colored) at the ITO-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) interface. The oxygen vacancy enables fast movement of Li-ions in the interface network. This phenomenon suggests that the vacancy engineering of filler holds strong promise for developing advanced all-solid-state batteries.

Ammonia sensing characteristics of an ITO-V2O5 based chemoresistive dual-type gas sensors (CDGS) decorated with platinum nanoparticles

A new chemoresistive dual-type gas sensors (CDGS) has been produced and reported. The studied CDGS contains an indium tin oxide (ITO) thin layer, a vanadium (V2O5) thin layer, and platinum (Pt) nanoparticles (NPs) on a chip. The n- and p-type ammonia (NH3) sensing behaviors of the studied Pt NP/ ITO-V2O5 CDGS were systematically investigated. Initially, a high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to investigate the intrinsic properties. In experiments, significantly different current-voltage (I-V) curves of Pt NP/ ITO (Sensor A) and Pt NP/ V2O5 (Sensor B) were obtained in NH3-contained ambiences. The sensing response SR values for Sensors A and B are 7.54 and 1.14, respectively, under 1000 ppm NH3/air gas at 275°C. The various transient current-time (I-t) curves, under 1, 10, 100, and 1000 ppm NH3 /air gas at 275°C, for Sensors A and B were clearly observed. Moreover, both Sensors A and B demonstrated good selectivity toward NH3 gas. Thus, the presented Pt NP/ ITO-V2O5 CDGS provides the prominent potentiality and flexibility for NH3 gas detecting application.

Conducting ITO Nanoparticle-Based Aerogels—Nonaqueous One-Pot Synthesis vs. Particle Assembly Routes

Indium tin oxide (ITO) aerogels offer a combination of high surface area, porosity and conductive properties and could therefore be a promising material for electrodes in the fields of batteries, solar cells and fuel cells, as well as for optoelectronic applications. In this study, ITO aerogels were synthesized via two different approaches, followed by critical point drying (CPD) with liquid CO2. During the nonaqueous one-pot sol-gel synthesis in benzylamine (BnNH2), the ITO nanoparticles arranged to form a gel, which could be directly processed into an aerogel via solvent exchange, followed by CPD. Alternatively, for the analogous nonaqueous sol-gel synthesis in benzyl alcohol (BnOH), ITO nanoparticles were obtained and assembled into macroscopic aerogels with centimeter dimensions by controlled destabilization of a concentrated dispersion and CPD. As-synthesized ITO aerogels showed low electrical conductivities, but an improvement of two to three orders of magnitude was achieved by annealing, resulting in an electrical resistivity of 64.5-1.6 kΩ·cm. Annealing in a N2 atmosphere led to an even lower resistivity of 0.2-0.6 kΩ·cm. Concurrently, the BET surface area decreased from 106.2 to 55.6 m2/g with increasing annealing temperature. In essence, both synthesis strategies resulted in aerogels with attractive properties, showing great potential for many applications in energy storage and for optoelectronic devices.

Plasmonic induced light trapping enhancement in silicon nanowires hybrid solar cell using indium tin oxide nanoparticles

In this study, silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with different lengths was fabricated using the metal-catalyzed electroless etching method and used as the base structure of an inorganic semiconductor hybrid solar cell. This technique is economically attractive and allows us to easily control the physical nanostructure of the nanowires to match the light trapping mechanism of the 3D-structured hybrid solar cell. The length of the nanowire linearly increases with etching times. For solar cell fabrication, poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) was used as an organic semiconductor part. The plasmonic-induced light-trapping enhancement of indium tin oxide nanoparticles (ITO NPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) mixed with PEDOT:PSS was adapted to improve solar cell performance. It was found that the hybrid solar cell, fabricated from SiNWs with 5 min-etching time, yielded the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE). Furthermore, using ITO NPs and AuNPs in a hole-transport layer of the SiNWs hybrid solar cell can improve the PCE to 50% more than the reference hybrid solar cell. The hybrid solar cell using the concentration between PEDOT:PSS and ITO NPs of 1:1/5 shows the highest PCE of 8.33%.

Radiative-Cooling Composites with Enhanced Infrared Emissivity by Structural Infrared Scattering through Indium Tin Oxide Nanoparticles in a Polymer Matrix.

Radiative cooling has attracted tremendous interest as it can tackle global warming by saving energy consumption in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) in buildings. Polymer materials play an important role in radiative cooling owing to their high infrared emissivity. Along this line, numerous studies on optically optimized geometries were carried out to enhance the selective wavelength absorption for high infrared emissivity; however, the polymer material itself relatively was not investigated and optimized enough. Herein, we investigate the infrared radiation (IR) absorption coefficient of various polymer types, and introduce a new concept of radiative-cooling composites. By dispersing the IR scattering medium in a polymer matrix, IR can be effectively scattered and attenuated by the polymer matrix. Indium tin oxide was utilized as the IR scattering medium in a cellulose acetate polymer matrix in this report. The window film was made with this composite and showed an effective cooling performance by outdoor thermal evaluation. This composite opens a new venue to endow materials with enhanced radiative-cooling property regardless of the polymer types.

A controllable fabrication of flat absorber dual-layer coating with electric shielding on 6061 aluminum alloy by PEO with nanoparticles additive

In spacecraft, thermal control coatings with anti-static functionality are vital for electronic packages to ensure proper operation of devices and instruments while preventing the reduction of component lifetime due to extreme temperatures or electrostatic discharge. However, simultaneously integrating thermal control and static charge dissipation into one coating remains a huge challenge. Herein, a dual-layer black coating composed of an Al2O3-In2O3-P2O5-SiO2 glass bottom layer embedded with crystalline indium tin oxide (ITO) and a top layer with ITO and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as sealed conductive and radiative components grows in situ on the 6061 aluminum alloy surface using a modified PEO method with nanoparticles additive under special parameters, experiencing one-step liquid-plasma-assisted particle deposition and sintering (LPDS) process. During the LPDS process, the addition of CNTs to the electrolyte promotes the deposition and sintering of ITO nanoparticles on the bottom layer, resulting in the transition from a single-layer coating to a dual-layer coating. CNTs with high absorption/emissivity assisted further by the infrared-trapping effect of the micro/nanostructure lead to flat absorber dual-layer coating. The black coating offers both high solar absorptance (~0.93) in the 0.2–2.5 μm waveband and infrared emissivity (~0.94) in the 3–20 μm waveband. Notably, CNTs with high aspect ratio connect the ITO nanoparticles to form a complete conductive channel on the coating surface, thus eliminating in-plane charges. At only 1.27 × 102 Ω, the surface resistivity of the dual-layer coating is five orders of magnitude lower than that of the single-layer Al2O3 coating (1.15 × 107 Ω). Such an all-in-one design provides a feasible and sustainable strategy for anti-static black products in space applications.

Surface Oxygen Vacancy Inducing Li-Ion-Conducting Percolation Network in Composite Solid Electrolytes for All-Solid-State Lithium-Metal Batteries.

Composite solid electrolytes (CSEs) are newly emerging components for all-solid-state Li-metal batteries owing to their excellent processability and compatibility with the electrodes. Moreover, the ionic conductivity of the CSEs is one order of magnitude higher than the solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) by incorporation of inorganic fillers into SPEs. However, their advancement has come to a standstill owing to unclear Li-ion conduction mechanism and pathway. Herein, the dominating effect of the oxygen vacancy (Ovac ) in the inorganic filler on the ionic conductivity of CSEs is demonstrated via Li-ion-conducting percolation network model. Based on density functional theory, indium tin oxide nanoparticles (ITO NPs) are selected as inorganic filler to determine the effect of Ovac on the ionic conductivity of the CSEs. Owing to the fast Li-ion conduction through the Ovac inducing percolation network on ITO NP-polymer interface, LiFePO4 /CSE/Li cells using CSEs exhibit a remarkable capacity in long-term cycling (154 mAh g-1 at 0.5C after 700 cycles). Moreover, by modifying the Ovac concentration of ITO NPs via UV-ozone oxygen-vacancy modification, the ionic conductivity dependence of the CSEs on the surface Ovac from the inorganic filler is directly verified.

Fabrication of Plasmonic Indium Tin Oxide Nanoparticles by Means of a Gas Aggregation Cluster Source.

In this work, we demonstrate, for the first time, the possibility to fabricate indium tin oxide nanoparticles (ITO NPs) using a gas aggregation cluster source. A stable and reproducible deposition rate of ITO NPs has been achieved using magnetron sputtering of an In2O3/SnO2 target (90/10 wt %) at an elevated pressure of argon. Remarkably, most of the generated NPs possess a crystalline structure identical to the original target material, which, in combination with their average size of 17 nm, resulted in a localized surface plasmon resonance peak at 1580 nm in the near-infrared region.

Indium tin oxide nanoparticles induced tunable dual alignment in nematic liquid crystal

Monotonic alignment variation with a uniaxial domain through the noncontact-based technique is highly appreciated for several elements of LC-based latest technologies (that rely on the alignment of LC molecules over the desired substrate). So, with this motivation, the present article covers the achievement of various alignments (homogeneous and homeotropic) of a nematic liquid crystal (NLC, 5CB) material in ITO sample cell devoid of alignment layer by dispersion of indium tin oxide (ITO) NPs (0.25 wt% and 1 wt%). Firstly, various LC alignments are observed with the help of polarizing optical micrographs (POM) in presence of external DC biasing voltage (ranging from 5 to 20 V) at 28˚C. POM depicts the various domains of 5CB in pristine form while uniform vertical (homeotropic) monodomain was achieved through the dispersion of 0.25 wt% ITO NPs that, interestingly, again tuned to the planar (homogeneous) alignment when ITO concentration was increased up to 1 wt%. The achievement of tunability in the alignments may be attributed to the ITO-ITO interaction and their various arrangements on the ITO substrate. Moreover, conoscopic study done on this composite also confirmed the uniform mono-domain vertical alignment under cross polarizers. To further confirm POM observations, the frequency-bias dependent dielectric parameters (dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss and loss factor) were also examined that eventually confirming the vertical alignment only for 0.25 wt% ITO NPs-5CB composite. We do anticipate that the underlying mechanism of ITO NPs based on the tunable dual alignment could be utilized to make improved and high-performance tunable LC-based devices.

Facile Functionalization of Carbon Electrodes for Efficient Electroenzymatic Hydrogen Production.

Enzymatic electrocatalysis holds promise for new biotechnological approaches to produce chemical commodities such as molecular hydrogen (H2). However, typical inhibitory limitations include low stability and/or low electrocatalytic currents (low product yields). Here we report a facile single-step electrode preparation procedure using indium-tin oxide nanoparticles on carbon electrodes. The subsequent immobilization of a model [FeFe]-hydrogenase from Clostridium pasteurianum ("CpI") on the functionalized carbon electrode permits comparatively large quantities of H2 to be produced in a stable manner. Specifically, we observe current densities of >8 mA/cm2 at -0.8 V vs the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) by direct electron transfer (DET) from cyclic voltammetry, with an onset potential for H2 production close to its standard potential at pH 7 (approximately -0.4 V vs. SHE). Importantly, hydrogenase-modified electrodes show high stability retaining ∼92% of their electrocatalytic current after 120 h of continuous potentiostatic H2 production at -0.6 V vs. SHE; gas chromatography confirmed ∼100% Faradaic efficiency. As the bioelectrode preparation method balances simplicity, performance, and stability, it paves the way for DET on other electroenzymatic reactions as well as semiartificial photosynthesis.

Thin Transparent Photothermal Coatings for Rapid Defogging in Automotive Applications

Abstract Counteracting surface fogging to maintain surface transparency is significant to a variety of applications, including automotive lighting. Current energy-neutral approaches mostly rely on engineering the surface wettability, but suffer from contaminant deposition and lack of robustness and hence require frequent maintenance or renewal. This is particularly bothersome when the coating is within an enclosure, such as that of an automotive headlamp. Here, we design a maintenance-free, transparent, light-activated, photothermal composite material coating, to fully mitigate fogging-related issues. The coating contains dispersed indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles in a dielectric matrix and is most absorptive in the near-infrared range, where a significant fraction of the thermal energy source lies, thus maintaining visible transparency. Based on nucleation thermodynamics, the photo-induced heating effect enables sustained and superior fog removal, also prevention when compared to uncoated samples. The coating is fabricated with readily and cost-effectively scalable industrial methods such as spray or dip coating. Its functionality is evidenced with standard visible thermal sources and on predominant materials employed in car headlights (glass and polycarbonate), which enables its direct application also on existing such surfaces, or similar.

Surface plasmon resonance absorption peak control through regulation of particle size and concentration of an indium tin oxide nanoparticle solution

Surface plasmon resonance absorption peak control through regulation of particle size and concentration of an indium tin oxide nanoparticle solution