Raymond Taziwa Taziwa, Luyolo Ntozakhe and Meyer E
Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by pneumatic spray pyrolysis technique (PSP) using zin acetate solution as a precursor and tetra-butyl-ammonium as a dopant. The morphological, structural and optical properties of PSP synthesized ZnO NPs were evaluated using SEM, HRTEM, RS and UV-vis spectroscopy. SEM analysis has revealed that as synthesized NPs have spherical shape. Additionally SEM analysis has revealed that the in-cooperation of C into the ZnO lattice gradually changes the morphology of the NPs changes from mesoporous morphology with have multiple porous network structure to densely packed and agglomerated structure. HRTEM analysis has confirmed the presence of spherical NPs with NP sizes of 8.71 nm, 10 nm, 12.54 nm and 12.70 nm for the un-doped ZnO, 0.01 M C-ZnO 0.015 M C-ZnO, and 0.025 M C-ZnO NPs respectively. The fabricated ZnO NPs have d-spacing’s of 0.2705 nm, 0.2823 nm, 0.2776 nm, 0.2821 nm and 0.2464 nm corresponding to the lattice plane of (100) and (101) of hexagonal Wurtzite ZnO. RS analysis has shown prominent peak at 438.63 cm-1, which is the characteristic peak of E2 (high) mode of the Wurtzite ZnO. Additionally Raman phonon shifts due to carbon doping are discussed in detail.
