Effect of Fe-doping on the structural, morphological and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by solution combustion process

The effect of Fe doping on the structural, morphological and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by simple solution combustion process are reported. The powder XRD pattern indicates that the Fe doped ZnO samples exhibit primary and secondary phases. The primary phase indicates the hexagonal vvurtzite structure with the average crystalline size of around 25-50 nm and the secondary phase is associated with the face centered cubic structure of magnetite iron oxide. The elemental composition of pure and Fe doped samples are evaluvated by EDX. The results of FE-SEM and HR-TEM cleary show that particles morphology have changed with respect to the incorporation of doping agent and particles are in aggregating nature. The vibrational properties of the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles are investigated by Raman scattering technique and it exhibits that the influence of Fe doping significantly modify the lattice vibrational characteristics in ZnO sites. The optical properties of the Fedoped ZnO nanoparticles are carried out by UV-vis absorption and PC spectra. The results of PL spectra show the near-band edge related emission as well as strong blue emissions in the Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All tights reserved.