EFFECTS OF ANNEALING ON THE SURFACE DEFECTS OF ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLES

Abstract

ZnO nanoparticles have been prepared by wet chemical method. The properties of the synthesized nanostructures are studied using X-ray diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Photoluminescence (PL), Ultraviolet-Visible absorption, Laser Raman and Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The thermal decomposition is analyzed by Thermogravimetric (TG) and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA). The influence of annealing on structural and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles has been systematically investigated. The PL results demonstrated that the visible emission at 565 nm is associated with the combination of oxygen vacancies and OH group attached at the surface of ZnO nanoparticles. OH group is lessened from the surface of ZnO nanoparticles with annealing temperature and a blue-shift in visible emission peak is observed at 800°C annealing temperature.