Surface Morphology and Optical Properties of ZnO Films Synthesis Using Different Solvent

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a promising electronic material for a variety of large area electronic applications including thin-film sensors, transistors, and solar cells. Various techniques have been focused and explored to synthesize ZnO films. In this study, sol-gel process was adopted as the fabrications process to grow the ZnO films. Three different types of solvents were used including ethanol, isopropanol and ethylene glycol as the reaction medium in the ZnO solution. The correlation between different solvents used and the properties of the ZnO films was explored and observed. The surface morphologies, structural and optical properties were examined using field émission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. Through the observation from FESEM results, the surface morphology changed when different solvents were used. The crystallographic structures of the ZnO films demonstrate high crystallinity, and the extracted crystallite size is around 30 nm. Furthermore, ZnO films synthesized using isopropanol and ethylene glycol exhibit high transmittance spectra greater than 80% in the visible region. In general, the experimental results revealed that different solvents in the sol-gel process exert influences on the properties of the ZnO films.