Influence of drying temperature on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of layer-by-layer ZnO nanoparticles seeded catalyst

Abstract

Layer-by-layer zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have been prepared using sol-gel spin coating technique. The films were dried at different temperature from 100°C to 300°C to study its effect to the surface morphology, optical and electrical properties of the films. Film dried at 200°C shows the highest (0 0 2) peak of X-ray diffraction pattern which is due to complete decomposition of zinc acetate and complete vaporization of the stabilizer and solvent. It was found that the grain size increased with the increased of drying temperature from 100 to 200°C, but for films dried at above 200°C, the grain size decreased. Photoluminescence measurements show a sharp ultraviolet emission centred at 380 nm and a very low intensity visible emission. Blue visible emission was detected for sample dried at temperature below 200°C, while for films dried above 250°C, the visible emission is red shifted. The films were transparent in the visible range from 400 to 800 nm with average transmittance of above 85%. Linear I-V characteristics were shown confirming the ohmic behaviour of the gold contacts to the films. A minimum resistivity was given by 5.08 · cm for the film dried at 300°C. © 2012 S. S. Shariffudin et al.