Photoluminescence properties of Al-doped ZnO synthesized via facile sol-gel route

Pure and Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles are synthesized by hydrothermal technique. The structural and phase analysis of the prepared powder is attained by X-rays diffraction and concluded that Al doping increases the crystallite size and causes compressive stress formation in the material network. Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy reveals the formation of the aluminum oxide phase but with a tiny size that XRD cannot detect. The impact of different ratios of Al doping influence on powder morphology is carried out using transmission electron microscopy, and the optical bandgap of all synthesized products with the doping ratio is investigated by UV-visible reflectance. The electronic defects localized in the material band-gap are studied via photoluminescence spectroscopy and inferred that Al doping alters significantly the electronic defects nature present in the band-gap. In this study, the intrinsic oxygen vacancies are removed by replacing Zn when Al atoms are introduced into the material network. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.