Physical properties of Ti-doped ITO nanoparticles synthesized by co-precipitation method

Ti-doped indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles (TITO) with different molar ratios of Ti:ITO were synthesized by co-precipitation method using Ti(OCH₂CH₂CH₂CH₃)₄, InCl₃ and SnCl₄·5H₂O as starting precursors. Deionized (DI) water was selected as the solvent in this process. The as-precipitated powders were calcined at different temperature in range of 700 °C for 2 h. For all samples, their crystal structures, Optical property and morphologies were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and Scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. XRD results reveal that the purity of as-synthesized sample is increased by the increase of calcination temperatures. Moreover, it is noticed that the incorporation of Ti into ITO matrix significantly affects to their relevant physical properties especially optical properties. In addition, SEM micrographs show that the sample agglomeration is noticeably influenced by Ti doping content.