Electrohydrodynamic Processing of p-Type Transparent Conducting Oxides

Electrohydrodynamic processing is capable of synthesizing various materials in the form of porous/dense thin films, nano fibers, nano rods, nano belts, and ribbons, which is highly favorable for functional oxides. The tailored microstructures and properties derived from electrohydrodynamic forming also give rise to new research interests on some classical oxides, such as transparent conducting oxides (TCO_s). Here a case of feasible electro spray synthesis of classical Zn O is demonstrated with tailored p-type conductivity. Another p-type T CO, CuAlO₂, was prepared by both electro spray and electro spinning methods and the processing-derived electrical and optical properties are demonstrated. The last part of the paper discusses some emerging applications especially for CuAlO₂ as potential nano building blocks enabled by electrohydrodynamic processing.