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Transparent conductors (TCs) are an essential ingredient in numerous new applications which are emerging in the 21st century including high efficiency solar cells, rigid and tactile displays, light emitting diodes, photonics for communications and computing, energy efficient and smart windows and gas sensors, since they allow efficient light transmission while electric signals are applied or collected. So far, indium tin oxide (ITO) reflects the best trade-off between low electrical resistivity and high optical transparency, making it the first candidate as transparent conductor for most optoelectronics technologies despite its drawbacks such as expensiveness and poor mechanical characteristics. However, due to the intricacy of ITO, the coating characteristics strongly depend on the deposition conditions. Despite many developments in ITO-based transparent conductive coatings; these coating are yet to be commercialized for optoelectronic applications. Many challenges still exist in terms of the fabrication of high quality ITO-based transparent conductive coatings, in order to meet the criteria of better, cost-effectiveness and environmentally-friendly characteristics, especially in the context of transparent conductive electrodes. In this study, the deposition conditions along with incorporating thin ITO films with transition metals (Ti and Ag), carbon nanotubes (e.g., SWCNTs) and metals nanoparticles (Ag and Au nanoparticles) were optimized to synthesize high quality ITO based TCs via a facile, environmentally friendly and cost-effective sol-gel spin-coating method. ITO thin films were fabricated with different Ti and Ag doping concentration, different annealing temperature and different geometry such as single layer, bi-layer and multi-layer. The structural, surface morphology and composition, electrical, optical and mechanical properties were characterized using a wide range of complementary techniques, namely, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning elec

Sathy, T., Taha, H., Ibrahim, K., Rahman, M. M., Amir-Al Zumahi, S. M., Arobi, N., . . . Jiang, Z. T. (2022). Structural, surface electronic bonding, optical, and mechanical features of sputtering deposited CrNiN coatings with Si and Al additives. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 277, article 125289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2021.125289

Taha, H., Ibrahim, K., Rahman, M. M., Henry, D. J., Yin, C. Y., Veder, J. P., ... & Jiang, Z. T. (2020). Sol-gel derived ITO-based bi-layer and tri-layer thin film coatings for organic solar cells applications. Applied Surface Science, 530, article 147164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.147164

Rahman, M. M., Ibrahim, K., Taha, H., Amri, A., Zhao, X., Kabir, H., . . . Jiang, Z. -. (2019). Studies of annealing impact on the morphological, opto-dielectric and mechanical behaviors of molybdenum-doped CrN coatings. Thin Solid Films, 677, 119-129. Available here

Taha, H., Henry, D. J., Yin, C. Y., Amri, A., Zhao, X., Bahri, S., ... & Jiang, Z. T. (2017). Probing the effects of thermal treatment on the electronic structure and mechanical properties of Ti-doped ITO thin films. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 721, pp. 333-346. Available here.

Taha, H., Jiang, Z. T., Yin, C. Y., Henry, D. J., Zhao, X., Trotter, G., & Amri, A. (2018). Novel approach for fabricating transparent and conducting SWCNTs/ITO thin films for optoelectronic applications. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 122(5), 3014-3027. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b10977 Available here.

Taha, H., Jiang, Z. T., Henry, D. J., Amri, A., Yin, C. Y., Alias, A. B., & Zhao, X. (2018). Improved mechanical properties of sol-gel derived ITO thin films via Ag doping. Materials Today Communications. Available here