Abstract
Ti-doped zinc oxide and pure zinc oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by a modified oxalate route using Averrhoa carambola fruit juice as a natural source of oxalate. The characteristics of the precursors have been investigated by FTIR, TGA, and XRD. The results from the investigation revealed that the precursors are zinc oxalate and Ti-doped zinc oxalate which readily decompose at 450°C. The as-prepared precursors were calcined at 450°C for 4 hours, and the decomposition products have been characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, and VSM. XRD results revealed crystallinity with hexagonal wurtzite structure, while the average grain size was found to be 26 nm for Ti-doped ZnO and 29 nm for ZnO, using calculations based on Debye-Scherrer equation. Furthermore, the morphological studies by SEM showed particle agglomeration, while the presence of Ti3+ in the zinc oxide lattice is indicated by EDS analysis. Finally the hysteresis loop from VSM results shows that Ti-doped ZnO exhibits ferromagnetism.
Highlights
The magnetic properties of nanomaterials used in semiconductors seem to result from their ability to manipulate electron spins
The oxalates from the 3d metals such as zinc are isomorphous in nature, which enables the enhancement of physical properties of oxide semiconductors by doping the precursor in the course of synthesis [2,3,4,5,6]
Many research groups that have worked on doping with transition metals have used zinc oxide as a good host material for realizing wide band-gap dilute magnetic semiconductors
Summary
The magnetic properties of nanomaterials used in semiconductors seem to result from their ability to manipulate electron spins. Several methods have been used for ZnO synthesis such as chemical precipitation in water solution [8], hydrothermal synthesis [9], sol-gel process [10], precipitation from microwave [11], and thermal evaporation [12] process These methods have given products with particles differing in shape, size, and spatial structure. The zinc oxide obtained had a hexagonal wurtzite structure with the particles having a spherical shape, but the use of organic solvents makes the method relatively cost ineffective and environmentally questionable. We follow the steps of our previous work [21, 22] and report for the first time the synthesis of doped metal oxide (Ti-doped ZnO) by a relatively low temperature method which involves the pyrolysis of a precursor by a coprecipitation route in aqueous solution using an oxalate ligand from a natural source (A. carambola fruit juice) as the precipitating agent. 200 200 to an EDAX, and magnetic properties have been investigated
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