Structure, morphology and luminescence properties of sol-gel method synthesized pure and Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Abstract

Highly Crystalline pure and Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared using the inexpensive sol-gel synthesis method with the stimulation of transition metal ion surfactant. The prepared pure and Ag-doped (Silver doped) ZnO nanoparticles were characterised by various sophisticated techniques like x-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Dynamic Light scattering (DLS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–visible absorption, Photoluminescence (PL) and Zeta potential. The result indicates that the average grain size of the prepared nanoparticles was found to be a minuscule 24 nm with a commendable bandgap of 3.21 eV and 1.73 eV respectively. The hexagonal wurzite structures of pure and Ag-doped ZnO at room temperature confirmed the luminescence characteristics of the nanoparticles.