Structural and Optical Characterization of Chemically Synthesized Nanostructured Zinc Oxide Thin Film
Main Article Content
Abstract
Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin film has been synthesized using the chemical spray pyrolysis technique and ethylene glycol
has been used as solvent during the synthesis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show cubic and tetragonal phases
of ZnO and the grain size was calculated to be 2.57nm. Optical characterization reveals very high transmittance
within the visible-ultraviolet region and a bandgap of 3.49 eV was obtained for ZnO thin film. Scanning Electron
Microscopic (SEM) analysis showed a void-free non-homogenous surface.
Keywords: ZnO; Spray pyrolysis; Ethylene glycol; Grain size.
Article Details
How to Cite
Ajayi, A. A., Alabi, A. B., Abodunrin, O. W., & Musiliyu, K. A. (2021). Structural and Optical Characterization of Chemically Synthesized Nanostructured Zinc Oxide Thin Film. ABUAD International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences, 1(1), 18–23. https://doi.org/10.53982/aijnas.2021.0101.03-j
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Authors hold the copyright of all published articles except otherwise stated.
References
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N. and Laanab, L. (2014). Effects of solvent and
stabilizer molar ration on the growth orientation
of sol-gel-derived ZnO thin films. International
Journal of Photoenergy, 2019: 1-7.
Benramache, S., Rahal, A. and Benhaoua, B. (2014).
The effects of solvent nature on spray-deposited
ZnO thin film prepared from Zn(CH3COO)2, 2H2O.
Optik, 125(2), 663 – 666.
Biswas, M., Sharmin, M., Das, C., Poddar, J. and
Choudary, S. (2016). Structural and Optical
Characterization of magnesium doped zinc. Dhaka
University Journal of Science, 64(1):1–6.
Boukaous, C., Tella, A., Horwat, D., Aida, M.S.,
Boudine, B. and Ghanem, S. (2014). Influence of
solvent on humidity sensing of sol-gel deposited
ZnO thin film. European Physical Journal of
Applied Physics, 65:20302.
Chandrappa, K.G. and Venkatesha, T.V. (2012).
Electrochemical Synthesis and Photocatalytic
property of zinc oxide nanoparticles. Nano-Micro,
4(1):14–24.
Chin, S., Choi, J.W., Woo, H.E., Kim J.H., Lee,
H.S. and Lee, C.L. (2019). Realizing a highly
luminescent perovskite thin film by controlling the
grain size and crystallinity through solvent vapour
annealing. Nanoscale, 11(13): 5775 – 6500.
Cho, J., Hwang, S., Ko, D., and Chung, S. (2019).
Transparent ZnO thin film deposited by spray
pyrolysis for high-performance metal – oxide field
effect transistors, Materials, 12(3423): 1 – 24.
Deak, G., Dumitru, F.D., Moncea, M.A., Panait, A.M.,
Baraitaru, A.G., Olteanu, M.V., Boboc, M.G. and
Stanciu, S. (2019). Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles
for water treatment applications. International
Journal of Conservation Science, 10(2): 343 – 350.
Diwate, K., Mohite, K., Shinde, M., Rodinya, S.,
Pawbake, A., Date, A., Pathan, H. and Jadkar, S.
(2016). Synthesis and characterization of chemical
spray pyrolyzed CZTS thin films for solar cell
application. Energy Procedia, 110(2017): 180 –
187.
Faraj, M.G. and Ibrahim, K. (2011). Optical and
structural properties of thermally evaporated zinc
oxide thin films on polyethylene terephathalate
substrates. International Journal of Polymer
Science, 2011: 1 – 4.
Foo, K.L., Kashif, M., Hashim, U. and Liu, W.
(2014). Effect of different solvents on the
structural and optical properties of zinc oxide thin
films for optoelectronic applications. Ceramics
International, 40 (2014): 753 – 761.
Foo, K.L., Kashif, M., Hashim, U. and Wei-Wen,
L. (2014). Effect of different solvents on the
structural and optical properties of zinc oxide thin
film for optoelectronic applications, Ceramics
International, 40(1):753 – 761.
Fouad, O.A., Ismail, A.A., Zaki, Z.I. and Mohamed,
R.M. (2006). Zinc oxide thin films prepared by
thermal evaporation deposition and its photocatalytic
activity. Applied Catalysis, 62(2006): 144 – 149.
Goyal, A. and Kachhwaha, S. (2012). ZnO thin film
preparation by spray pyrolysis and electrical
characterization. Materials Letters, 68 (2012): 354
– 356.
Hassan, N.K. and Kashim, M.R. (2013). Structural
and optical properties of ZnO thin film prepared by
oxidation of Zn metal powders. Sains Malaysiana,
42(2): 193 – 196.
Huang, W., Hsieh, T. and Chu, A. (2012). Preparation
of ZnO membrane by chemical bath deposition
method via regulated acidity. Journal of Information
Engineering and Applications, 2(5): 1 – 34.
Hussein, B., Ebong, A. and Ferguson, I. (2015). Zinc
oxide as an active n-layer and antireflection coating
for silicon based heterojunction solar cell. Solar
Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 139 (2015): 95
-100.
Jeyadheepan, K., Karthick, P. and Sanjeeviraja, C.
(2019). Development of automated spray pyrolysis
setup for chemical vapour deposition like growth
of thin solid films, Journal of Instrumentation,
14:PO4002.
Kolodziejczak – Radzimska, A. and Jesionoskwi, T.
(2014). Zinc-Oxide – From synthesis to applications:
A review. Materials, 7(2014): 2833 – 2881.
Konan, F.K., Hartiti, B. and Nkuissi, H.J. (2019).
Optical-structural characterization of i-ZnO thin
films deposited by chemical route. Journal Materials
and Environmental Sciences, 10(10): 1003 – 1010.
Kumar, M. and Sasikumar, C. (2014). Electrodeposition
of Nanostructured ZnO thin films: A review.
American Journal of Materials Science and
Engineering, 2(2): 18 – 23.
Kumar, N.S., Bangera, K.V. and Shivakumar, G.K.
(2014). Effect of annealing on the properties of zinc
oxide nanofiber thin films grown by spray pyrolysis technique. Applied Nanoscience, 4 (2): 209 – 216.
Lupan, O., Postica, V., Grottrup, J., Mishra, A.K., de
Leeuw, N.H., Carreira, J.F., Rodriguez, J., Ben-
Sedrine, S., Correia, M.R., Monteiro, T., Cretu,
V., Tiginyanu, I., Smazna, D., Mishra, Y.K. and
Adelung, R. (2017). Hybridization of zinc oxide
tetrapods for selective gas sensing applications.
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 9(4): 4084
– 4099.
Marouf, S., Beniache, A. Guessasa, H., and Azizi,
A. (2017). Morphological, structural and optical
properties of ZnO thin films deposited by dip
coating method Materials Research, 20(1): 88-95
Minteer, S.D. (2011). Handbook of Biofuels
Production, Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy,
258 – 265.
Mohammed, A.A., Suriani, A.B. and Jabur, A.R.
(2018). The enhancement of UV sensor response
by zinc oxide bilayer nanocomposites film, IOP
Conferences Series. Journal of Physics, 1003
012070.
Muchuweni, E., Sathiaraj, T.S. and Nyakotyo, H.
(2017). Synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide
thin films for optoelectronic applications. Heliyon,
3(2017): 1 – 18.
Munoz-Aguirre, N., Martinez-Perez, L., Munoz-
Aguirre,S., Florez-Herera, L.A., Hernandez,
E.V. and Zelaya-Angel, O. (2019). Luminescent
properties of (004) highly oriented cubic zinc
blende ZnO thin films. Materials, 12: 1-10.
Offor, P.O., Okorie, B.A., Ezekoye, B.A., Ezekoye,
V.A. and Ezema, J.I. (2015). Chemical spray
pyrolysis synthesis of zinc sulphide thin films via
double precursors, Journal of Ovonic Research,
11(2): 73 – 77.
Patil, G.E., Kajale, D.D., Gaikwad, V.B. and Jain, G.H.
(2012). Spray pyrolysis deposition of nanostructured
tin oxide thin films. ISRN Nanotechnology, 2012: 1
– 5.
Qiu, J., Weng, B., Zhao, L., Chang, C., Shi, Z., Li.,
X., Kim, H. and Hwang, Y. (2014). Synthesis and
characterization of flower-like bundles of ZnO
nanosheets by surfactant-free hydrothermal process.
Journal of Nanomaterials, 2014: 1-11.
Rahimzadeh, M.R., Rahimzadeh, M.R. and
Moghadamnia, A. (2017). Cadmium toxicity and
treatment. Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine,
8(3): 135 – 145.
Rajeshmon, V.G. (2013). Prospects of Sprayed
CZTS Thin Film Solar Cells from the Perspective
of Material Characterization and Device
Performance. (2009). Kerala: PhD Thesis in the
Department of Physics, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, India.
Stamate, E. (2019). Spatially resolved optoelectronic
properties of Al-doped zinc oxide thin films
deposited by radio-frequency magnetron plasma
sputtering without substrate heating. Nanomaterials,
10(14): 1 – 11.
Stamate, E., (2019). Spatially resolved opto-electronic
properties of Al-doped zinc oxide thin films
deposited by radiofrequency magnetron plasma
sputtering without substrate heating. Nanomaterials,
10(14): 1 – 11.
Tang, G., Lin, H. and Zhang, W. (2013). The variation
of optical bandgap for ZnO in films prepared by
sol-gel technique. Advances in Materials Science
and Engineering, 348601: 1–4.
Tecaru, A., Danciu, A.I., Musat, V., Fortunato, E. and
Elangovan, E. (2010). ZnO thin films prepared by
spray pyrolysis. Journal of Optoelectronics and
Advanced Materials, 12(9): 1889 – 1893.
Thool, G.S., Singh, A.K., Singh, R.S., Gupta, A. and SuSan, M.A. (2014). Facile synthesis of flat crystal
ZnO thin films by solution growth method: A microstructural
investigation, Journal of Saudi Chemical
Society, 18(5): 712-721
Vyas, S., Giri, P., Singh, S. and Chakrabarti, P. (2015).
Comparative study of as-deposited ZnO thin films
by thermal evaporation, Pulsed Laser deposition
and RF sputtering methods electronic and
optoelectronic applications. Journal of Electronic
Materials, 44(2015): 3401 – 3407.
Werner, T.T., Mudd, J.M. and Jowitt, S.M. (2015).
Indium: Key issues in assessing mineral resources
and long-term supply from recycling. Applied Earth
Science IMM Transactions, Section B 124(4): 213-
226
N. and Laanab, L. (2014). Effects of solvent and
stabilizer molar ration on the growth orientation
of sol-gel-derived ZnO thin films. International
Journal of Photoenergy, 2019: 1-7.
Benramache, S., Rahal, A. and Benhaoua, B. (2014).
The effects of solvent nature on spray-deposited
ZnO thin film prepared from Zn(CH3COO)2, 2H2O.
Optik, 125(2), 663 – 666.
Biswas, M., Sharmin, M., Das, C., Poddar, J. and
Choudary, S. (2016). Structural and Optical
Characterization of magnesium doped zinc. Dhaka
University Journal of Science, 64(1):1–6.
Boukaous, C., Tella, A., Horwat, D., Aida, M.S.,
Boudine, B. and Ghanem, S. (2014). Influence of
solvent on humidity sensing of sol-gel deposited
ZnO thin film. European Physical Journal of
Applied Physics, 65:20302.
Chandrappa, K.G. and Venkatesha, T.V. (2012).
Electrochemical Synthesis and Photocatalytic
property of zinc oxide nanoparticles. Nano-Micro,
4(1):14–24.
Chin, S., Choi, J.W., Woo, H.E., Kim J.H., Lee,
H.S. and Lee, C.L. (2019). Realizing a highly
luminescent perovskite thin film by controlling the
grain size and crystallinity through solvent vapour
annealing. Nanoscale, 11(13): 5775 – 6500.
Cho, J., Hwang, S., Ko, D., and Chung, S. (2019).
Transparent ZnO thin film deposited by spray
pyrolysis for high-performance metal – oxide field
effect transistors, Materials, 12(3423): 1 – 24.
Deak, G., Dumitru, F.D., Moncea, M.A., Panait, A.M.,
Baraitaru, A.G., Olteanu, M.V., Boboc, M.G. and
Stanciu, S. (2019). Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles
for water treatment applications. International
Journal of Conservation Science, 10(2): 343 – 350.
Diwate, K., Mohite, K., Shinde, M., Rodinya, S.,
Pawbake, A., Date, A., Pathan, H. and Jadkar, S.
(2016). Synthesis and characterization of chemical
spray pyrolyzed CZTS thin films for solar cell
application. Energy Procedia, 110(2017): 180 –
187.
Faraj, M.G. and Ibrahim, K. (2011). Optical and
structural properties of thermally evaporated zinc
oxide thin films on polyethylene terephathalate
substrates. International Journal of Polymer
Science, 2011: 1 – 4.
Foo, K.L., Kashif, M., Hashim, U. and Liu, W.
(2014). Effect of different solvents on the
structural and optical properties of zinc oxide thin
films for optoelectronic applications. Ceramics
International, 40 (2014): 753 – 761.
Foo, K.L., Kashif, M., Hashim, U. and Wei-Wen,
L. (2014). Effect of different solvents on the
structural and optical properties of zinc oxide thin
film for optoelectronic applications, Ceramics
International, 40(1):753 – 761.
Fouad, O.A., Ismail, A.A., Zaki, Z.I. and Mohamed,
R.M. (2006). Zinc oxide thin films prepared by
thermal evaporation deposition and its photocatalytic
activity. Applied Catalysis, 62(2006): 144 – 149.
Goyal, A. and Kachhwaha, S. (2012). ZnO thin film
preparation by spray pyrolysis and electrical
characterization. Materials Letters, 68 (2012): 354
– 356.
Hassan, N.K. and Kashim, M.R. (2013). Structural
and optical properties of ZnO thin film prepared by
oxidation of Zn metal powders. Sains Malaysiana,
42(2): 193 – 196.
Huang, W., Hsieh, T. and Chu, A. (2012). Preparation
of ZnO membrane by chemical bath deposition
method via regulated acidity. Journal of Information
Engineering and Applications, 2(5): 1 – 34.
Hussein, B., Ebong, A. and Ferguson, I. (2015). Zinc
oxide as an active n-layer and antireflection coating
for silicon based heterojunction solar cell. Solar
Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 139 (2015): 95
-100.
Jeyadheepan, K., Karthick, P. and Sanjeeviraja, C.
(2019). Development of automated spray pyrolysis
setup for chemical vapour deposition like growth
of thin solid films, Journal of Instrumentation,
14:PO4002.
Kolodziejczak – Radzimska, A. and Jesionoskwi, T.
(2014). Zinc-Oxide – From synthesis to applications:
A review. Materials, 7(2014): 2833 – 2881.
Konan, F.K., Hartiti, B. and Nkuissi, H.J. (2019).
Optical-structural characterization of i-ZnO thin
films deposited by chemical route. Journal Materials
and Environmental Sciences, 10(10): 1003 – 1010.
Kumar, M. and Sasikumar, C. (2014). Electrodeposition
of Nanostructured ZnO thin films: A review.
American Journal of Materials Science and
Engineering, 2(2): 18 – 23.
Kumar, N.S., Bangera, K.V. and Shivakumar, G.K.
(2014). Effect of annealing on the properties of zinc
oxide nanofiber thin films grown by spray pyrolysis technique. Applied Nanoscience, 4 (2): 209 – 216.
Lupan, O., Postica, V., Grottrup, J., Mishra, A.K., de
Leeuw, N.H., Carreira, J.F., Rodriguez, J., Ben-
Sedrine, S., Correia, M.R., Monteiro, T., Cretu,
V., Tiginyanu, I., Smazna, D., Mishra, Y.K. and
Adelung, R. (2017). Hybridization of zinc oxide
tetrapods for selective gas sensing applications.
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 9(4): 4084
– 4099.
Marouf, S., Beniache, A. Guessasa, H., and Azizi,
A. (2017). Morphological, structural and optical
properties of ZnO thin films deposited by dip
coating method Materials Research, 20(1): 88-95
Minteer, S.D. (2011). Handbook of Biofuels
Production, Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy,
258 – 265.
Mohammed, A.A., Suriani, A.B. and Jabur, A.R.
(2018). The enhancement of UV sensor response
by zinc oxide bilayer nanocomposites film, IOP
Conferences Series. Journal of Physics, 1003
012070.
Muchuweni, E., Sathiaraj, T.S. and Nyakotyo, H.
(2017). Synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide
thin films for optoelectronic applications. Heliyon,
3(2017): 1 – 18.
Munoz-Aguirre, N., Martinez-Perez, L., Munoz-
Aguirre,S., Florez-Herera, L.A., Hernandez,
E.V. and Zelaya-Angel, O. (2019). Luminescent
properties of (004) highly oriented cubic zinc
blende ZnO thin films. Materials, 12: 1-10.
Offor, P.O., Okorie, B.A., Ezekoye, B.A., Ezekoye,
V.A. and Ezema, J.I. (2015). Chemical spray
pyrolysis synthesis of zinc sulphide thin films via
double precursors, Journal of Ovonic Research,
11(2): 73 – 77.
Patil, G.E., Kajale, D.D., Gaikwad, V.B. and Jain, G.H.
(2012). Spray pyrolysis deposition of nanostructured
tin oxide thin films. ISRN Nanotechnology, 2012: 1
– 5.
Qiu, J., Weng, B., Zhao, L., Chang, C., Shi, Z., Li.,
X., Kim, H. and Hwang, Y. (2014). Synthesis and
characterization of flower-like bundles of ZnO
nanosheets by surfactant-free hydrothermal process.
Journal of Nanomaterials, 2014: 1-11.
Rahimzadeh, M.R., Rahimzadeh, M.R. and
Moghadamnia, A. (2017). Cadmium toxicity and
treatment. Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine,
8(3): 135 – 145.
Rajeshmon, V.G. (2013). Prospects of Sprayed
CZTS Thin Film Solar Cells from the Perspective
of Material Characterization and Device
Performance. (2009). Kerala: PhD Thesis in the
Department of Physics, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, India.
Stamate, E. (2019). Spatially resolved optoelectronic
properties of Al-doped zinc oxide thin films
deposited by radio-frequency magnetron plasma
sputtering without substrate heating. Nanomaterials,
10(14): 1 – 11.
Stamate, E., (2019). Spatially resolved opto-electronic
properties of Al-doped zinc oxide thin films
deposited by radiofrequency magnetron plasma
sputtering without substrate heating. Nanomaterials,
10(14): 1 – 11.
Tang, G., Lin, H. and Zhang, W. (2013). The variation
of optical bandgap for ZnO in films prepared by
sol-gel technique. Advances in Materials Science
and Engineering, 348601: 1–4.
Tecaru, A., Danciu, A.I., Musat, V., Fortunato, E. and
Elangovan, E. (2010). ZnO thin films prepared by
spray pyrolysis. Journal of Optoelectronics and
Advanced Materials, 12(9): 1889 – 1893.
Thool, G.S., Singh, A.K., Singh, R.S., Gupta, A. and SuSan, M.A. (2014). Facile synthesis of flat crystal
ZnO thin films by solution growth method: A microstructural
investigation, Journal of Saudi Chemical
Society, 18(5): 712-721
Vyas, S., Giri, P., Singh, S. and Chakrabarti, P. (2015).
Comparative study of as-deposited ZnO thin films
by thermal evaporation, Pulsed Laser deposition
and RF sputtering methods electronic and
optoelectronic applications. Journal of Electronic
Materials, 44(2015): 3401 – 3407.
Werner, T.T., Mudd, J.M. and Jowitt, S.M. (2015).
Indium: Key issues in assessing mineral resources
and long-term supply from recycling. Applied Earth
Science IMM Transactions, Section B 124(4): 213-
226