Introducing magnetic properties in Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Proper correlation among the microstructural, optical and magnetic responses of Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles has been established in this work. All the Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles (Zn1-xFexO: x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15) were prepared using chemical co-precipitation route. Average crystallites size of 18 nm to 28 nm was estimated using Scherrer's formula. Compressive microstrain was detected in pristine ZnO samples, which moved toward tensile regime upon introducing Fe ions of different weight percentages. Mean crystallites size obtained from Scherrer's formula was found in almost exact match with the particle size estimated from HRTEM images. Nearly spherical ZnO nanoparticles were seen in HRTEM images and negligible agglomeration among particles was also observed. Direct optical band gaps were found in the range of 2.89-3.24 eV as estimated from Tauc plots. A decent ferromagnetic signature in non-magnetic ZnO nanoparticles was also introduced at room temperature with the doping of Fe ions.