Outgoing from inorganic metallic precursors improved sot-gel processes for the deposition of transparent conductive oxides, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) on different substrates have been developed. Coatings could be obtained by the dip-coating method and a subsequent annealing process for glass-substrates. For the coating of temperature-sensitive substrates, such as polycarbonate for instance, outgoing from an ITO-sol via a precipitation process nanopowders could be obtained. Film deposition at temperatures below 140 degrees C with these dispersed nanoparticles resulted in transparent and infrared reflecting coatings. For annealed glass-substrates the lowest attained emittance in the infrared was below 0.20, whereas transparency in the visible could be kept at about 0.80. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.