Abstract
In the present study, the pure and La-Zr co-doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by sol–gel technique using zinc acetate dehydrate (Zn(Ac)2·2H2O), lanthanum nitrate hexahydrate (La(NO3)3 ·6H2O) and zirconium chloride (ZrCl4) as precursor. The structure and morphology of the prepared nanoparticle samples were studied using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy measurements. X-ray diffraction results indicated that all the samples have crystalline wurtzite phase. TEM showed that powder was polycrystalline in nature with random distribution of the pure and La-Zr doped ZnO nanoparticles. We demonstrate strain-size evaluations for pure and doped ZnO nanoparticles from the x-ray line profile analysis. The microstructural effects of crystalline materials in terms of crystallite sizes and lattice strain on the peak broadening were investigated using Williamson-Hall (W-H) analysis and size- strain plot (SSP) method. The average crystallite size of Zn (1-x)LaxZrxO nanoparticles estimated from the W–H analysis and SSP method varied as the doping concentration increased. The incorporation of Zr4+ ion in the place of Zn2+ caused an increase in the size of nanocrystals as compared to undoped ZnO. The average particle sizes of co-doped ZnO nanoparticles estimated from the USDM model is in good agreement with the TEM results.
Highlights
Nano-structured metal oxide semiconductors are gaining attention due to their wide band-gap and related properties
A preferable growth along the {101}, {002}, {100}, {102}, {110} and {103} directions could be indexed as hexagonal wurtzite phase of zinc oxide (ZnO) as according to the JPCDS card number: 36-1451 31
The pure and La-Zr co-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by a simple sol-gel method were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurement
Summary
Nano-structured metal oxide semiconductors are gaining attention due to their wide band-gap and related properties. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a promising candidate due to its excellent physical and chemical properties for a wide range of applications such as varistors, luminescence, electrostatic dissipative coatings, transparent UV protection films, chemical sensors, etc. 6-10 ZnO is doped with different types of metallic ions in order to enhance the optical and conducting properties 11. Transition metal-doped ZnO (e.g., La, Zr,...) has been broadly researched and concentrated on luminescence properties, magnetic, optical and photocatalytic activity, sensor and memory applications . The change in lattice parameter of metal‐doped ZnO powders is dependent upon the ionic radius of doping ion, which can substitute the Zn ion in the lattice 21. The ionic radius of the dopant ion is important factor, which can strongly influence the ability of the dopant to enter into oxides
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