Sustainable ITO films with reduced indium content deposited by AACVD

Investigations of novel and high-performance transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) are required to substitute currently widely used tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) due to the low abundance of indium and constantly increasing demand on ITO in the optoelectronic industry. Here we synthesised In-Sn-O thin films from inexpensive and air-stable precursors by facile aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD). These films presented a high level of electro-optical properties, of which the optimum sample possessed a low resistivity of 8.7 × 10−4 Ω cm and an excellent optical transmission (~80%) across the visible light spectrum, which is similar to the industry standard. More importantly, the analysis of elemental composition illustrated considerably lower indium content (70 at.%) in the best coatings as compared to those in commercial ITO (commonly ＞90 at.% of indium), which contributes to TCEs with reduced indium content. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images displayed dense and continuous crystal grains and uniform thickness distribution. This work shows the promising potential of AACVD to prepare alternatives to ITO under simple, safe and cost-effective conditions.