Synthesis of Ga-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles by Solvothermal Method
Main Article Content
Abstract
In this paper, Ga-doped ZnO nanoparticles (GZO NPs) are synthesized by the solvothermal method from different precursors and with different Ga doping concentrations (0%, 1%, 3%, 5%, 7% and 9%) at the same temperature of 250 °C in the oleylamine solvent. The structural, morphological and optical characteristics were studied by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscope and UV–Vis absorption spectra. Particle size and morphology are strongly influenced by changes in precursor Ga and Ga. The concentration of doping Ga also affects the morphology, structure and optical properties of GZO NPs. When Ga doping concentration increased from 0 to 9%, the nanoparticle size changed in the range of 19–36 nm. GZO NPs have relatively high transmittance. Among the samples with different doping concentrations, the nanoparticles with 5% Ga doping showed the highest transmittance, ~85% at the wavelength of 550 nm. This suggests that these nanoparticles are promising to make nanocomposite films applied in transparent conductive electrodes.
Keywords
GZO nanoparticles, solvothermal, particle size, optical properties
Article Details
References
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[4] S.-W. Yoon, J.-H. Seo, T.-Y. Seong, T.-H. Yu, Y. H. You, K. B. Lee, H. Kwon, and J.-P. Ahn; Ga Ordering and Electrical Conductivity in Nanowire and Superlattice-Structured Ga-Doped ZnO, Crystal Growth & Design, 12(3) (2012) 1167–1172.
[5] C.-Y. Tsay and W.-T. Hsu; Comparative studies on ultraviolet-light-driven photoresponse properties of ZnO, AZO, and GZO transparent semiconductor thin films, Materials, 10(12) (2017) 1379.
[6] F. Z. Bedia, A. Bedia, N. Maloufi, M. Aillerie, F. Genty, B. Benyoucef, and E. Malouf; Effect of Zn doping on optical properties of nanostructured ZnO thin films grown by spray pyrolysis technique, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 616 (2014) 312–318.
[7] E. Fortunato, A. Gonçalves, A. Pimentel, P. Barquinha, G. Gonçalves, L. Pereira, I. Ferreira, and R. Martins; Zinc oxide, a multifunctional material: from material to device applications, Applied Physics A, 96(1) (2009) 197–205.
[8] A. Z. Barasheed, S. R. S. Kumar, and H. N. Alshareef; Temperature dependent thermoelectric properties of chemically derived gallium zinc oxide thin films, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 1(26) (2013) 4122–4127.
[9] S. Chen, G. Carraro, D. Barreca, A. Sapelkin, W. Chen, X. Huang, O. Cheng, F. Zhang, and R. Binions; Aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition of Ga-doped ZnO films for energy efficient glazing: effects of doping concentration on the film growth behaviour and opto-electronic properties, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 3(24) (2015) 13039–13049.
[10] H. Mahdhi, Z. B. Ayadi, J. L. Gauffier, K. Djessas, and S. Alaya; Influence of sputtering power on the properties of thin layers of GZO for photovoltaic applications, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 26(5) (2015) 3336–3343.
[11] S. Chen, M. E. A. Warwick, and R. Binions; Effects of film thickness and thermal treatment on the structural and opto-electronic properties of Ga-doped ZnO films deposited by sol–gel method, Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells, 137 (2015) 202–209.
[12] H. Zhou, H. Wang, K. Zheng, Z. Gu, Z. Wu, and X. Tian; Aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles with tunable near-infrared absorption/reflectance by a simple solvothermal process, RSC Advances, 4(81) (2014) 42758–42763.
[13] B. Simović, D. Poleti, A. V. Golubović, A. Matković, M. Šćepanović, B. M. Babić, and G. O. Branković; Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of RO16 dye using Ag modified ZnO nanowires prepared by the solvothermal method, Processing and Application of Ceramics, 11(1) (2017) 27–38.
[14] A. Alkahlout; A wet chemical preparation of transparent conducting thin films of Ga-doped ZnO nanoparticles, Journal of Sol–Gel Science and Technology, 67(2) (2013) 331–338.
[15] K. Chongsri and W. Pecharapa; Structural Properties of Ga-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized by Co-Precipitation Process, Integrated Ferroelectrics, 165(1) (2015) 159–166.
[16] Y.-Q. Li, K. Yong, H.-M. Xiao, W.-J. Ma, G.-L. Zhang, and S.-Y. Fu; Preparation and electrical properties of Ga-doped ZnO nanoparticles by a polymer pyrolysis method, Materials Letters, 64(15) (2010) 1735–1737.
[17] S. Mridha and D. Basak; Aluminum doped ZnO films: electrical, optical and photoresponse studies, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 40(22) (2007) 6902.
[18] J. Ungula, B. F. Dejene, and H. C. Swart; Effects of different Ga doping concentration on structural and optical properties of Ga-doped ZnO nanoparticles by reflux precipitation method, Physica B: Condensed Matter, 535 (2018) 251–257.
[19] J. Ungula, B. F. Dejene, and H. C. Swart; Effect of pH on the structural, optical and morphological properties of Ga-doped ZnO nanoparticles by reflux precipitation method, Physica B: Condensed Matter, 535 (2018) 251–257.
[20] S. Ito, P. Chen, P. Comte, M. K. Nazeeruddin, P. Liska, P. Péchy, and M. Grätzel; Fabrication of screen-printing pastes from TiO₂ powders for dye-sensitised solar cells, Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 15(7) (2007) 603–612.
[21] M. M. Mikhailov, V. V. Neshchimenko, S. A. Yuryev, and A. N. Sokolovskyi; Investigation of Optical Properties and Radiation Stability of TiO₂ Powders before and after Modification by Nanopowders of Various Oxides, In Titanium Dioxide-Material for a Sustainable Environment, IntechOpen (2018).