Development of ultrafine indium Tin Oxide (ITO) nanoparticle for ink jet printing by low temperature synthetic method

In this work, ultrafine indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticle for ink jet printing was successfully developed by newly developed low temperature synthetic method at 300degC. Mean size of the synthesized ITO nanoparticle is 5 nm with very small deviation less than 10%. High specific surface area of 117 m²/g certifies the ultrafine particle size. Especially, the ITO nanoparticle was well dispersed by the surface additive. Despite of the low temperature synthesis at 300degC, ITO nanoparticle was well crystallized with (222) preferred orientation. Composition ratio of In and Sn is 90 and 10 wt% in the lattice of the ITO nanoparticle. Also, using the well dispersed ultrafine ITO nanoparticle, ITO ink was attempted to make for ink jet printing. As a result, ITO ink was made well by dispersing the ITO nanoparticle into the organic solvent uniformly. Using the nano ITO ink, ITO transparent thin film with high optical transmittance over 90% could be fabricated.