Effect of oxygen injection on the size and compositional evolution of ZnO/Zn(OH)2 nanocomposite synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in distilled water

Zinc oxide/hydroxide nanocomposite materials are synthesized by pulsed laser ablation of zinc in double distilled water. Effect of simultaneous flow of oxygen in the closed vicinity of laser ablated plasma plume on the size, morphology, crystallinity, and composition of synthesized oxide/hydroxide nanocomposite structures is investigated. As synthesized nanocomposite materials are characterized using UV-visible absorption, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and photoluminescence spectroscopic methods. It is observed that injection of oxygen induces a new mechanism in the particle synthesis, which causes decrease in particle size, distribution as well as Zn(OH)(2)/ZnO ratio and increase of order of crystallinity of product. There are some novel findings in the direction of development of pulsed laser ablation in aqueous media (PLAAM) for the synthesis of nanostructured materials.