4-Nitro-Azo Dye-Sensitized Optical Behavior of Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Networks in Zirconium-Based Thin Films: Effect of Cu Co-doping

Abstract

The considerable attention on organic–inorganic compounds motivated us to study the effect of incorporation of new azo derivative, (2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-((4-Nitrophenyl)diazenyl) benzaldehyde), as an applicable organic molecule, in the structure of zirconium-based sol–gel thin films. The driving force behind our study is to see whether the possible coordination of organic and inorganic counterparts leads to the modification of the physical characters of the samples. The study on the UV/Vis transmittance and FTIR spectra of samples confirms that a combination of functional groups with the inorganic bonds is created. The improvement in the photoluminescence intensity is observed due to the lower concentration of dimer in the 1% azo-doped thin film. The effect of the addition of copper on the optical characteristics of samples doped with 1% azo is also studied. The increase in the copper concentration showed to be an intelligent method to achieve higher PL intensity.