The effect of composition on the structure, optical, and room-temperature ferromagnetic properties of hydrothermally synthesized (ZnSn)1-xCuxO nanocomposites

Abstract

(ZnSn)1-xCuxO nanocomposites (NCs) with nanorods and nanosheet morphologies were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal technique. (ZnSn)1-xCuxO NCs exhibited a gradual band gap redshift from UV to visible spectral region with increasing Cu-content. The room temperature magnetic hysteresis loop indicated the improvement of room temperature ferromagnetic (RTFM) behavior of (ZnSn)1-xCuxO NCs compared with nanostructured ZnSnO NCs induced by the exchange interaction of Cu-bound polarons with the localized spins and free carriers. The (ZnSn)60Cu40O NCs exhibited the highest saturation magnetization (Ms) of 0.539 emu·g−1. Further increase in Cu-content resulted in the deterioration of crystalline domains and the reduction of Ms to 0.259 emu·g−1. This behavior revealed that the electronic and magnetic properties of (ZnSn)1-xCuxO NCs were so sensitive to the dopant concentration that need to be utilized for improving their performance as good candidate NCs for spintronic applications.