Nickel Doping in ZnO Nanorod Synthesis: Effects of Nickel Concentration on Physical Properties of the Nanorod

Abstract

ZnO nanorods have successfully been grown on the surface of FTO. The growth of ZnO nanorods was carried out using the seed-mediated growth method, whereas the Ni doping was carried at different concentrations. The effect of nickel doping on ZnO nanorods was observed using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), UV-Vis spectroscopy, and X rays diffraction (XRD). ZnO nanorods having hexagonal shape were shown by FESEM images, and overlap of ZnOnanorods forming a nanoflowers with wider rod size. UV-Vis spectra showed that strong absorption occurred at a wavelength of 390-300 nm, the highest intensity of absorption was resulted by 15mM sample. The energy gap of the sample decreased as increasing its concentration. XRD pattern of the samples showed the diffraction peaks occurred at angles of 2θ = 31.72°, 34.45°, 36.20°, 47.50°, and 56.57° that represented the crystal plane orientation of (100), (002), (101), (102), and (110).