Structural, optical, and humidity sensing performance of Pb-doped zno nanostructure prepared by sol-gel immersion method

Abstract

Lead (Pb)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured film was prepared using sol-gel immersion method. The surface morphology of the ZnO films displayed a significant change in structure after doped with Pb. The diameter of the nanostructures was increased from 50 nm to 80 nm after doped. Besides, the crystallinity of the film was improved after doped with Pb, as well as the crystallite size of the Pb-doped ZnO film. The Pb-doped ZnO film showed excellent transmittance properties with average transmittance of 83%. Pb-doped sample displayed better absorbance than that of undoped ZnO at UV region and also have high optical band gap energy of 3.27 eV. In addition, Pb-doped ZnO film exhibited a stable response to humidity change with a sensitivity of 1.21.