Investigating the optical properties of synthesized ZnO nanostructures by sol-gel: The role of zinc precursors and annealing time

The ZnO nanostructures were synthesized successfully by sol-gel method with particular reference to the influence of zinc salt as precursor and annealing time on morphology, structure and optical properties of them. The ZnO nanostructure was grown in nanorod and nanodisc shapes when zinc acetate and zinc nitrate were used as precursor, respectively. The structure parameters (size and distance of crystal planes and residual stress) of prepared samples were investigated by XRD analyzes. The ZnO nanorods size was increased with increasing annealing time, but the size of ZnO nanodiscs was decreased. The optical band gap and absorption peaks position were due to zinc source and annealing time. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.