Preparation of Rod-like Aluminum Doped Zinc Oxide Powders by Sol-gel Technique Using Metal Chlorides and Acetylacetone Precursors

Abstract

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) powders were prepared by using metal chloride precursors and the sol-gel technique. IR peaks observed at 1590 cm^-1 and 1620 cm^-1 indicated the formation of metal chelate as a consequence of the addition of acetylacetone to the metal chloride solution. TG-DSC analysis of the AZO gels confirmed the formation of metal chelate as evidenced by the development of several weight loss peaks accompanied by the introduction of new endothermic peaks. The resulting AZO gels were annealed at 500, 600, and 800 °C to study the effect of annealing temperature. XRD and SEM results showed that crystallization of AZO gels takes place around 600 °C. Hexagonal wurtzite structure was identified as the main phase for all the samples. In addition, small shift of the XRD (002) peak coupled with XPS results from the AZO powders confirmed the successful doping of the ZnO powders. Micron sized rod-like AZO powders were uniform in dimension and morphology and remained stable even at 800 °C.

Keywords

aluminum doped ZnO / rod-like / metal chloride / sol gel / acetylacetone

References

[1] Djurisic AB, et al. ZnO nanostructures: Growth, Properties and Applications [J]. Materials Chemistry, 2012, 22(14): 6 526-6 535.

[2] Park WI, et al. ZnO Nanorod Logic Circuits[J]. Advanced Materials, 2005, 17(11): 1 393-1 397.

[3] Wang L, et al. ZnO Nanorod Gas Sensor for Ethanol Detection[J]. Sensors & Actuators: B.Chemical, 2012, 162(1): 237-243.

[4] Chen JH, et al. Stacking Fault Directed Growth of Thin ZnO Nanobelt [J]. Materials Letters, 2008, 62(15): 2 369-2 371.

[5] Pan ZW, Dai ZR, Wang ZL. Nanobelts of Semiconducting Oxides [J]. Science, 2001, 291(5510): 1 947-1 949.

[6] Long T, et al. Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO Nanorods and Nanodisks from Zinc Chloride Aqueous Solution[J]. Nanoscale Research Letters, 2009, 4(3): 247-253.

[7] Panda D, T–Y Tseng. One–dimensional ZnO Nanostructures: Fabrication, Optoelectronic Properties, and Device Applications[J]. Materials Science, 2013, 48(20): 6 849-6 877.

[8] Yan C, et al. Tube Formation in Nanoscale Materials[J]. Nanoscale Research Letters, 2008, 3(12): 473-480.

[9] Rani S, et al. Synthesis of Nanocrystalline ZnO Powder via Sol–gel Route for Dye–sensitized Solar Cells[J]. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2008, 92(12): 1 639-1 645.

[10] Fageria P, Gangopadhyay S, Pande S. Synthesis of ZnO/Au and ZnO/Ag Nanoparticles and Their Photocatalytic Application Using UV and Visible Light[J]. RSC Advances, 2014, 4(48): 24 962

[11] Wolf N, et al. Stabilization of Aluminum Doped Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle Suspensions and Their Application in Organic Solar Cells[J]. Thin Solid Films, 2014, 564: 213-217.

[12] Zhang Y, et al. Optical and Electrical Properties of Aluminum–doped Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles[J]. Materials Science, 2011, 46(3): 774-780.

[13] Pál E, Dékány I. Structural, optical and Photoelectric Properties of Indium–doped Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Prepared in Dimethyl Sulphoxide [J]. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2008, 318(1): 141-150.

[14] Current Applied Physics, 2010, 10(3

[15] Gordon T, Grinblat J, Margel S. Preparation of “Cauliflower–Like” ZnO Micron–Sized Particles[J]. Materials, 2013, 6(11): 5 234-5 246.

[16] Jood P, et al. Al–doped Zinc Oxide Nanocomposites with Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties[J]. Nano Letters, 2011, 11(10): 4 337

[17] Wang H, et al. High Performance AZO Thin Films Deposited by RF Magnetron Sputtering at Low Temperature[J]. Recent Patents on Materials Science, 2015, 8(3): 260-264.

[18] Xu Y, Ma PH, Liu MN. Envelope Method Applied on the AZO Thin Films[J]. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 2012 268-270.

[19] Wu HW, C–H Chu. Structural and Optoelectronic Properties of AZO/Mo/AZO Thin Films Prepared by Rf Magnetron Sputtering[J]. Materials Letters, 2013 65-67.

[20] Lo SS, et al. Raman Scattering and Band–gap Variations of Al–doped ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized by a Chemical Colloid Process[J]. 2009 Physics D: Applied Physics. 42

[21] Zamiri R, et al. Structural and Dielectric Properties of Al–doped ZnO Nanostructures[J]. Ceramics International, 2014, 40(4): 6 031-6 036.

[22] Raj Mohan R, Sambath K, Rajendran K. Experimental Investigation on Structural and Optical Properties of ZnO: AZO Nano Particles by Hydrothermal Synthesis[J]. Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 2015, 26(3): 1 748-1 755.

[23] Xu C, et al. Effect of Urea on the Dispersibility and Crystallisation of AZO Nanoparticles Prepared by Sol–gel Combustion[J]. Micro & Nano Letters, 2011, 6(10): 855-857.

[24] Zhang P, et al. Aluminum–doped Zinc Oxide Powders: Synthesis, Properties and Application[J]. Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 2014, 25(2): 678-692.

[25] Efafi B, et al. Aluminum Doped ZnO Sol–gel Derived Nanocrystals: Raman Spectroscopy and Solid Solubility Characterization: Aluminum Doped ZnO Sol–gel Derived Nanocrystals[J]. Physica Status Solidi (a), 2014, 211(10): 2 426-2 430.

[26] Nishio K, et al. Preparation of Highly Oriented Thin Film Exhibiting Transparent Conduction by the Sol–gel Process[J]. Materials Science, 1996, 31(14): 3 651-3 656.

[27] Papet P, et al. Transparent Monolithic Zirconia Gels: Effects of Acetylacetone Content on Gelation[J]. Materials Science, 1989, 24(11): 3 850-3 854.

[28] Zak AK, et al. Effects of Annealing Temperature on Some Structural and Optical Properties of ZnO Nanoparticles Prepared by a Modified Sol–gel Combustion Method[J]. Ceramics International, 2011, 37(1): 393-398.

[29] Avci N, et al. Characterization of TiO2 Powders and Thin Films Prepared by Non–aqueous Sol–gel Techniques[J]. Journal of Sol–Gel Science and Technology, 2009, 52(3): 424-431.

[30] Silva RF, Darbello M Z. Aluminium doped Zinc Oxide Films: Formation Process and Optical Properties[J]. Journal of Non–Crystalline Solids, 1999, 247(1): 248-253.

[31] Sengupta J, Sahoo RK, Mukherjee CD E o A o t S. Topographical and Optical Properties of Sol–gel Derived ZnO and AZO Thin Films[J]. Materials Letters, 2012 84-87.

[32] LaiC–m L K, Rosmaidah S. Effect of Annealing Temperature on the Quality of Al–doped ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Sol–gel Method[J]. Jol–Gel Science and Technology, 2012, 61(1): 249-257.

[33] Hua G, et al. Fabrication of ZnO Nanowire Arrays by Cycle Growth in Surfactantless Aqueous Solution and Their Applications on Dye–sensitized Solar Cells[J]. Materials Letters, 2008, 62(25): 4 109-4 111.

[34] Wang HB, et al. Dynamic Morphology Instability in Epitaxial ZnO/AZO (aluminum–doped ZnO) Core–shell Nanowires[J]. Materials Science, 2014, 49(17): 6 020-6 028.

[35] Pal M, et al. Influence of Al Doping on Microstructural, Optical and Photocatalytic Properties of Sol–gel Based Nanostructured Zinc Oxide Films on Glass[J]. RSC Advances, 2014, 4(23): 11 552-11 563.

[36] Tian X, et al. Growth and Characterization of the Al–doped and Al–Sn Co–doped ZnO Nanostructures[J]. Ceramics International, 2013, 39(6): 6 497-6 502.

[37] Ellmer K, Mientus R. Carrier Transport in Polycrystalline Transparent Conductive Oxides: A Comparative Study of Zinc Oxide and Indium Oxide[J]. Thin Solid Films, 2008, 516(14): 4 620-4 627.