Aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles with tunable near-infrared absorption/reflectance by a simple solvothermal process

Transparent conductive oxides have attracted wide attention over the past decade due to their great potential applications. In this manuscript, we report the preparation of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) nanoparticles (NPs) through the solvothermal method. The effective incorporation of Al as a dopant is demonstrated by tracking free carrier absorption in the infrared region and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The obtained AZO NPs present tunable absorption and reflectance in the near infrared (NIR) range at different doping levels. Moreover, the optimal precursor ratio of Al to (Al + Zn) is 4 mol% to achieve the largest NIR reflectance and absorbance of AZO NPs.