Optical and structural investigations of dip-synthesized boron-doped ZnO-seeded platforms for ZnO nanostructures

Zinc oxide and boron-doped zinc oxide (B-ZnO) thin films have been dip coated on glass substrates using sol–gel technique. The ZnO solution was prepared using zinc acetate dihydrate (ZAD) as the starting material. Ethanol and citric acid are used in the sol–gel process as solvent and solution stabil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Materials science & processing, 2018-06, Vol.124 (6), p.1-13, Article 458
Main Authors: Ahmad, A. A., Alsaad, A. M., Al-Bataineh, Q. M., Al-Naafa, M. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physics
Boron
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Citric acid
Condensed Matter Physics
Ethanol
Glass substrates
Immersion coating
Immersion plating
Investigations
Machines
Manufacturing
Materials science
Nanostructure
Nanotechnology
Optical and Electronic Materials
Optical properties
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Platforms
Processes
Refractivity
Sol-gel processes
Surfaces and Interfaces
Thin Films
Zinc acetate
Zinc oxide
Zinc oxides
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Summary:Zinc oxide and boron-doped zinc oxide (B-ZnO) thin films have been dip coated on glass substrates using sol–gel technique. The ZnO solution was prepared using zinc acetate dihydrate (ZAD) as the starting material. Ethanol and citric acid are used in the sol–gel process as solvent and solution stabilizer, respectively. Doping of boron is achieved by adding a proper molar ratio of boric acid (H 3 BO 3 ) solution to the final ZnO solvent. The optical properties of thin films were investigated using UV–Vis spectrophotometer measurements. Transmittance of undoped ZnO films exhibits high values that are decreasing upon increasing the boron concentration. We found that the index of refraction of undoped ZnO films demonstrates values ranging between 1.6 and 2.2 and increase as B concentration is increased and approximately match those of bulk ZnO. In addition, structural properties were investigated using XRD, SEM and EDAX techniques. Upon annealing, we found that the films exhibit a hexagonal structure and as B concentration increases the grain size increases and the strain decreases. Our results indicate that (B-ZnO) films could be used as seeded platforms for growing nanostructures using hydrothermal method.
ISSN:0947-8396
1432-0630
DOI:10.1007/s00339-018-1875-z