Mass production and photoelectric performances of P and Al Co-doped ZnO nanocrystals under different cooling post-processes

The phosphorus and aluminum co-doped in zinc oxide (ZnO) called PAZO nano-crystals (NCs) have been mass synthesized by a combustion method, which shows a preferable photocatalytic capability and conductive ability. This article focuses on the properties of PAZO NCs experienced by three cooling-down aftertreatments, which were the normalizing, quenching and annealing process, respectively. The influences of different cooling processes on the photocatalytic and conductive performances are discussed in details. From the research, we found the quenched-PAZO NCs showed the most unappealing photocatalysis and conductivity, because excessive defects as the recombination center of electron-hole pairs were generated in the quenching process. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.