Zn doping induced enhancement of multifunctional properties in NiO nanoparticles

Ni1-xZnxO nanoparticles were synthesized by wet-chemical route. XRD characterization of these samples indicated that Zn doping in NiO neither induces structural phase transformation nor any secondary phase. Rietveld refinement of XRD data indicated that the lattice parameter of NiO increases with increasing of Zn doping concentration. TEM analysis confirms the reduction of agglomeration and shape transformation from irregular to almost spherical shape up on Zn doping in NiO. Raman study combined with photoluminescence study suggested that these materials could be useful for optical applications. Magnetic characterization of Ni1-xZnxO samples indicates that all samples show weak ferromagnetism at room temperature with the persistence of unsaturation behavior even up to very high magnetic field. Our study indicated that the synthesized samples could be useful for UV emission device, magnetic random access memory and data storage applications. (c) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.