Effect of dispersion on visible light transmittance and resistivity of indium tin oxide nanoparticles prepared by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-assisted coprecipitation method

A new strategy for decreasing resistivity while increasing visible light transmission of indium tin oxide nanoparticles (ITO NPs) was reported in this paper. Cubic phase ITO NPs with high dispersion were synthesized by coprecipitation method with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) assisted. The effects of dispersion on the optical and electrical properties of ITO NPs were investigated systematically. Surface potential of ITO NPs synthesized with 1.5 g/L of CTAB was increased from − 4.5 to 13.0 mV, resulting in an increase in visible light transmittance of ITO NPs from 70 to 92% and a decrease in resistivity from 6.5 × 10−1 to 3.5 × 10−1 Ω cm. The fitting equation between the visible light transmittance (T) of ITO NP and its absolute value of Zeta potential (μ) was $$T = 60.862 + 2.287 \mu$$ , while the fitting equation of its resistivity (ρ) and absolute value of Zeta potential (μ) was $$\rho = 0.7968 - 0.0350 \mu$$ . This result showed that the dispersion of ITO NPs had a great contribution to improving their optical and electrical properties. And the mechanism of the influence of dispersion on optical and electrical properties of ITO NPs was also discussed.