Studies On synthesis And Applications of ZnO and Cu Doped ZnO Nanostructures

Abstract

ABSTRACT newlineMetal oxide-based semiconductor nanomaterials have sufficient bandgap energy for promoting it towards a wide range of chemical reactions utilized in environmental interest. Extensive study has been carried out on wide-bandgap semiconductors like ZnO, TiO2, SnO2, and GaN as these materials are very useful and have wide applications in the fabrication of different optoelectronic devices. Amongst the semiconducting materials mentioned above, ZnO is widely studied due to its excellent properties like a wide bandgap of 3.4 eV and large exciton binding energy of 60 meV. It is also a cheaper n-type semiconductor and a fascinating material with applications in far-flung areas of technological importance. So, intense research focus has been devoted to ZnO by developing new synthesis techniques leading to its novel morphology and futuristic applications. Transition metal doping in ZnO has resulted in a tremendous improvement in its properties like photocatalytic efficiency, photoluminescence, sensing ability, and photo-electronic and biomedical utility. In contrast to the doping of other transition metals, Cu doping in ZnO is more suitable for overlapping with the valence band of ZnO due to the availability of unpaired electrons from the penultimate d sub-shell of Cu2+ ions. The low toxicity makes it a remarkable dopant in ZnO which will enhance its antibacterial, photocatalytic, and magnetic properties for further use in the drug delivery process. newlineIn this report, we establish a unique approach to fabricating ZnO (10 mM, 50 mM, 100 mM, 200 mM, 500 mM) on a Si substrate using zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn(NO3)2.6H2O) and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) ((CH2)6N4) salts as starting materials by using simple and cost-effective chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The effect of precursor concentration on the morphology and crystalline characteristics of ZnO nanostructures is investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) techniques. The FESEM images of different