Electrochemical synthesis of In2O3 nanoparticles for fabricating ITO ceramics

In2O3 nanoparticles approximately 50-100 nm in size were successfully synthesised using an electrochemical method utilising aqueous NH4Cl solution as electrolyte followed by calcination at 400 degrees C for 3 h. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed that the obtained In2O3 nanoparticles were uniform, monodisperse, and near-spherical. The optical performance of the In2O3 nanoparticles was investigated using UV-Vis and photoluminescence spectra. The In2O3 nanoparticles were used to fabricate tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) ceramics using the slip casting method, and the sintering behaviours and microstructures of the ITO ceramics were studied in detail. The results demonstrated that ITO ceramics sintered at 1600 degrees C for 8 h exhibited high density (7.135 g/cm(3)) and low resistivity (0.137 m Omega.cm), which indicated their great potential for fabricating ITO films featuring excellent properties.