Effect of precursor concentration on structural, morphological and opto-electric properties of ZnO thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis

Sprayed ZnO films were grown on glass substrate at 400 degrees C using zinc chloride as precursor with different molar concentrations varying from 0.05 to 0.2 M. X-ray diffraction patterns reveal that ZnO films are polycrystalline with hexagonal wurtzite structure with preferred orientation in (002) plane. Optical measurements show that transmittance reaches a maximum value of 95% in the visible region for ZnO films prepared from precursor with 0.05 M concentration. The films obtained from the precursor with 0.1 M concentration have the highest electrical conductivity and photocurrent values. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.