Novel preparation of ITO nanocrystalline films with plasmon electrochromic properties by the sol-gel method using benzoylacetone as a chemical modifier

In this paper, benzoylacetone (BzAcH) was introduced as a chelating agent to the sol-gel technique to fabricate indium tin oxide (ITO) nanocrystalline films. BzAcH was found to decrease the grain size of the ITO film, and the growth of ITO nanocrystals was controlled by varying the BzAcH content. ITO nanocrystalline films prepared by this method showed significant localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption features that could be manipulated electrically by electrochemical doping. Plasmonic electrochromism realized in ITO films indicated a strongly reversible and persistent variation of the film transmittance in the near-infrared region (NIR). Furthermore, the plasmon electrochromic mechanism of ITO nanocrystals is discussed in this paper.