Recent advances in 1D micro- and nanoscale indium oxide structures

Abstract Due to a variety of outstanding physical and chemical properties such as wide band gap, low resistance, good catalysis, high surface-to-volume ratio, high sensitivity and strong interaction with gas molecules, one-dimensional (1D) micro- and nanoscale indium oxide (In 2 O 3 ) structures are capable for high-performance optical, electrical and chemical devices, which have attracted much attention in the last decade. In this paper, we first summarize various fabrication methods of 1D micro- and nanoscale In 2 O 3 structures such as chemical vapor deposition, hydrothermal method, thermal evaporation method and electrospinning, then the interesting electrical and optical properties and their potential applications including gas sensors, field-emission transitions, photocatalysts and ultraviolet detectors are reviewed. At last, in order to fulfill the potential applications of 1D micro- and nanoscale In 2 O 3 structures, some challenges have also been discussed.