Effect of the Al Incorporation on the Dispersibility and Crystallization of AZO Nanoparticles Prepared by Sol-Gel Combustion Technique

Abstract

Finely dispersed Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanoparticles with well crystallization were prepared by a modified sol-gel combustion synthesis. The AZO nanoparticles with different Al doping concentration were calcined at 600 °C. In order to investigate the physical properties and microstructural characteristics, the nanoparticles were characterized by bulk density measurement, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD patterns of AZO nanoparticles corresponded well to the hexagonal structure of ZnO, indicating that the partial Zn atoms were substituted by Al atoms. With the increase of Al doping concentration, the size of AZO nanoparticles decreased from 30.43 nm to 25.97 nm. Simultaneously, with changing the atom ratio of Al/Zn, the bulk density varied obviously.