From highly monodisperse indium and indium tin colloidal nanocrystals to self-assembled indium tin oxide nanoelectrodes.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) nanopatterned electrodes are prepared from colloidal solutions as a material saving alternative to the industrial vapor phase deposition and top down processing. For that purpose highly monodisperse In(1-x)Sn(x) (x < 0.1) colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) are synthesized with accurate size and composition control. The outstanding monodispersity of the NCs is evidenced by their self-assembly properties into highly ordered superlattices. Deposition on structured substrates and subsequent treatment in oxygen plasma converts the NC assemblies into transparent electrode patterns with feature sizes down to the diameter of single NCs. The conductivity in these ITO electrodes competes with the best values reported for electrodes from ITO nanoparticle inks.