Synthesis of highly dispersible IZO and ITO nanocrystals for the fabrication of transparent nanocomposites in UV- and near IR-blocking

Abstract

Indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) nanocrystals were successfully synthesized via the alcohol-assisted pyrolysis of a mixture of indium stearate and zinc stearate, which were fabricated by the direct reaction between the metals and molten stearic acid at a temperature of 260–270 °C. The ~ 10 nm IZO nanocrystals could be dispersed homogeneously in non-polar solvents such as hexane or chloroform, forming an optically clear solution. Transparent IZO-ITO (indium tin oxide)/polyvinyl butyral (PVB) nanocomposite with 10% IZO and 2% ITO loading shows more than 75% visible light transmittance, 100% UV-blocking (below 380 nm), and 100% blocking of NIR from 1600 to 2500 nm. Equilibrium molecular dynamic simulation results clearly stated the stearic acid wrapped IZO nanocrystals in PVB matrix would hardly affect the solubility parameter of PVB composite, indicating their good compatibility and guaranteeing the high transparency of PVB-based composites. Our strategy paves the way to facile synthesize non-polar solvent soluble nanocrystals and fabricate transparent PVB-based functional nanocomposite.

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