Structural, morphological and optical studies of Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by simple solution combustion method

Abstract

In this work, the structural, morphological and optical properties of Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by the simple solution combustion method are reported. The powder X-ray diffraction pattern indicates that the Ag-doped ZnO samples exhibit primary and secondary phases. The primary phase indicates the hexagonal wurtzite structure with the average crystalline size of around 30–50 nm and the secondary phase is associated with the face centered cubic structure of metallic Ag. The field emission-scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images are coinciding with each other for aggregation of particles nature. The elemental analyses of pure and doped samples are evaluated by energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. Raman spectra’s of the doped samples indicate that the influence of Ag-doping drastically modify the lattice vibrational characteristics in ZnO sites. Room temperature photoluminescence results show the enhanced optoelectronic properties of the Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles.