Thaiskang Jamatia
Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic
Title: Tailoring of band-gap and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles by doping with Fe
Biography
Biography: Thaiskang Jamatia
Abstract
ZnO is a semiconductor material widely used in versatile applications in optoelectronic and piezoelectric devices. The doping of ZnO with transition metals like Fe, Co, Mn, Ni, Cr or V opens a new research topic leading to materials with completely different behavior towards magnetic and optical properties. FexZn1-xO nanoparticles were synthesized with varying Fe doping concentrations (x = 0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15) by microwave assisted solvothermal method. The microwave synthesis is based on high temperature decomposition of zinc acetate dihydrate and iron (III) acetylacetonate in diethyleneglycol with the presence of oleic acid as a capping agent. Obtained nanoparticles formed stable colloidal solutions in toluene. These nanocolloids can be furthermore used as precursors for nanocomposites with conductive polymers and for deposition of thin films resulting in utilization in optoelectronic devices. The phase purity and crystal structure of FexZn1-xO was observed in X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. Elemental analysis of the dopant Fe was examined by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The morphological studies were done in scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Optical properties were studied by ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). Changes in band-gap were observed with different doping concentrations. The experiment results show that the optical properties of ZnO have been successfully tuned by the addition of the Fe dopant.