Synthesis as well as Raman and optical properties of Cu-doped ZnO nanorods prepared at low temperature

Cu-doped ZnO nanorods have been synthesized by a low temperature, simple, fast and versatile fabrication approach. The prepared nanorods have average length and diameter of 500 nm and 40 nm, respectively. The structural and vibrational investigations depict that the prepared nanorods are in a single hexagonal phase and preferably grown along the c-axis. The X-rays photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that Cu is in 2+ oxidation state and doped up to 3% into the ZnO lattice. The magnetic measurements of doped nanorods show diamagnetic behavior at room temperature and paramagnetism at 8 K. The photoluminescence study shows that there is a considerable red-shift in the optical band-gap with Cu doping into ZnO and it exhibits improved luminescence properties. This tuned band-gap makes this a potential material for use in photo-catalysis, optoelectronics and solar-cell nanodevices. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.