Structure, morphology and luminescence properties of sol-gel method synthesized pure and Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Abstract

Highly Crystalline pure and Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared using the inexpensive sol-gel synthesis method with the stimulation of transition metal ion surfactant. The prepared pure and Ag-doped (Silver doped) ZnO nanoparticles were characterised by various sophisticated techniques like x-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Dynamic Light scattering (DLS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-visible absorption, Photoluminescence (PL) and Zeta potential. The result indicates that the average grain size of the prepared nanoparticles was found to be a minuscule 24 nm with a commendable bandgap of 3.21 eV and 1.73 eV respectively. The hexagonal wurzite structures of pure and Ag-doped ZnO at room temperature confirmed the luminescence characteristics of the nanoparticles.