Layer-by-Layer Assembled Oxide Nanoparticle Electrodes with High Transparency, Electrical Conductivity, and Electrochemical Activity by Reducing Organic Linker-Induced Oxygen Vacancies

Ikjun Cho, Yongkwon Song, Sanghyuk Cheong, Younghoon Kim, Jinhan Cho

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Solution-processable transparent conducting oxide (TCO) nanoparticle (NP)–based electrodes are limited by their low electrical conductivity, which originates from the low level of oxygen vacancies within NPs and the contact resistance between neighboring NPs. Additionally, these electrodes suffer from the troublesome trade-off between electrical conductivity and optical transmittance and the restricted shape of substrates (i.e., only flat substrates). An oxygen-vacancy-controlled indium tin oxide (ITO) NP-based electrode is introduced using carbon-free molecular linkers with strong chemically reducing properties. Specifically, ITO NPs are layer-by-layer assembled with extremely small hydrazine monohydrate linkers composed of two amine groups, followed by thermal annealing. This approach markedly improves the electrical conductivity of ITO NP-based electrodes by significantly increasing the level of oxygen vacancies and decreasing the interparticle distance (i.e., contact resistance) without sacrificing optical transmittance. The prepared electrodes surpass the optical/electrical performance of TCO NP-based electrodes reported to date. Additionally, the nanostructured ITO NP films can be applied to more complex geometric substrates beyond flat substrates, and furthermore exhibit a prominent electrochemical activity. This approach can provide an important basis for developing a wide range of highly functional transparent conducting electrodes.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number1906768
    JournalSmall
    Volume16
    Issue number8
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2020 Feb 1

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    I.C. and Y.S. contributed equally to this work. This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the South Korean government (Grant Nos. 2019R1A4A1027627, 2018R1A2A1A05019452, 2016M3A7B4910619), and by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (Grant No. 20173010013200). Additionally, this work was supported by LG Display under LGD–Korea University Incubation Program.

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

    Keywords

    • hydrazine linkers
    • indium tin oxide nanoparticles
    • layer-by-layer assembly
    • oxygen vacancy control
    • transparent conducting oxide electrodes

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biotechnology
    • Biomaterials
    • General Chemistry
    • General Materials Science

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