Synthesis of CuO/ZnO and MgO/ZnO Core/Shell Nanoparticles with Plasma Jets and Study of their Structural and Optical Properties

Abstract

This paper reports the synthesis of CuO/ZnO and MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles using atmospheric plasma jets. The characterization of the synthesized CuO/ZnO and MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles were confirmed by a series of techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UVeVis spectroscopy. The XRD analysis confirmed no other peaks related to the secondary phases for CuO, MgO, or ZnO, indicating the purity of these nanoparticles. Additionally, EDX analysis confirmed the formation of high purity CuO/ZnO and MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles. The surface morphology, which represented the high agglomeration rate, was investigated using SEM. TEM analysis showed that the sizes of the CuO/ZnO and MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles were 32 nm and 70 nm, respectively. The energy bandgaps were 3.3 eV and 3.1 eV for the CuO/ZnO and MgO/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles.