TY - JOUR
T1 - One-step synthesis of porous transparent conductive oxides by hierarchical self-assembly of aluminum-doped ZnO nanoparticles
AU - Bo, Renheng
AU - Zhang, Fan
AU - Bu, Shulin
AU - Nasiri, Noushin
AU - Di Bernardo, Iolanda
AU - Tran-Phu, Thanh
AU - Shrestha, Aabhash
AU - Chen, Hongjun
AU - Taheri, Mahdiar
AU - Qi, Shuhua
AU - Zhang, Yi
AU - Kumar Mulmudi, Hemant
AU - Lipton-Duffin, Josh
AU - Della Gaspera, Enrico
AU - Tricoli, Antonio
PY - 2020/2/26
Y1 - 2020/2/26
N2 - Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) are highly desirable for numerous applications ranging from photovoltaics to light-emitting diodes and photoelectrochemical devices. Despite progress, it remains challenging to fabricate porous TCOs (pTCOs) that may provide, for instance, a hierarchical nanostructured morphology for the separation of photoexcited hole/electron couples. Here, we present a facile process for the fabrication of porous architectures of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), a low-cost and earth-abundant transparent conductive oxide. Three-dimensional nanostructured films of AZO with tunable porosities from 10 to 98% were rapidly self-assembled from flame-made nanoparticle aerosols. Successful Al doping was confirmed by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, elemental mapping, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. An optimal Al-doping level of 1% was found to induce the highest material conductivity, while a higher amount led to partial segregation and formation of aluminum oxide domains. A controllable semiconducting to conducting behavior with a resistivity change of more than 4 orders of magnitudes from about 3 × 102 to 9.4 × 106 Ω cm was observed by increasing the AZO film porosity from 10 to 98%. While the denser AZO morphologies may find immediate application as transparent electrodes, we demonstrate that the ultraporous semiconducting layers have potential as a light-driven gas sensor, showing a high response of 1.92–1 ppm of ethanol at room temperature. We believe that these tunable porous transparent conductive oxides and their scalable fabrication method may provide a highly performing material for future optoelectronic devices.
AB - Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) are highly desirable for numerous applications ranging from photovoltaics to light-emitting diodes and photoelectrochemical devices. Despite progress, it remains challenging to fabricate porous TCOs (pTCOs) that may provide, for instance, a hierarchical nanostructured morphology for the separation of photoexcited hole/electron couples. Here, we present a facile process for the fabrication of porous architectures of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), a low-cost and earth-abundant transparent conductive oxide. Three-dimensional nanostructured films of AZO with tunable porosities from 10 to 98% were rapidly self-assembled from flame-made nanoparticle aerosols. Successful Al doping was confirmed by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, elemental mapping, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. An optimal Al-doping level of 1% was found to induce the highest material conductivity, while a higher amount led to partial segregation and formation of aluminum oxide domains. A controllable semiconducting to conducting behavior with a resistivity change of more than 4 orders of magnitudes from about 3 × 102 to 9.4 × 106 Ω cm was observed by increasing the AZO film porosity from 10 to 98%. While the denser AZO morphologies may find immediate application as transparent electrodes, we demonstrate that the ultraporous semiconducting layers have potential as a light-driven gas sensor, showing a high response of 1.92–1 ppm of ethanol at room temperature. We believe that these tunable porous transparent conductive oxides and their scalable fabrication method may provide a highly performing material for future optoelectronic devices.
KW - porous transparent conductive oxides
KW - one-step synthesis
KW - aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO)
KW - optoelectronics
KW - sensing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85081000683&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150101939
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160100569
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP190101864
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.9b19423
DO - 10.1021/acsami.9b19423
M3 - Article
C2 - 32019296
SN - 1944-8252
VL - 12
SP - 9589
EP - 9599
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 8
ER -