Direct synthesis of AgInO2

Potential applications as transparent conducting oxides have made the study of ternary metal oxides based on the delafossite structure very attractive. The well known and understood thermal instability of noble metal oxides, and therefore the associated problems with high-temperature solid-state techniques to yield pure complex oxides based on noble metals, clearly illustrates the need for low-temperature alternatives. For the first time, synthesis of 3R-AgInO₂ at low temperature (175 °C) and pressure (<10 atm) was achieved by a single-step hydrothermal technique. Particle size of the orange crystallites ranged from 3 to 7 μm.