SYNTHESIS OF ZnO-Аg NANOPARTICLES BY SOL-GEL METHOD

Abstract

Zinc oxide is a highly applicable semiconductor material. Wide applica-tion of this nanomaterial is connected to wide spectrum of energy band gap, high bond en-ergy, great thermal conductivity, but also with its non-toxicity, antibacterial activity, bio-compatibility and biodegradability characteristics. The aim of this paper is synthesis and characterization of silver doped ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO:Ag NP) using sol-gel method. Ob-tained samples of silver doped ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by following tech-niques: Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV/VIS spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spec-troscopy (EDX). Efficiency of provided synthesis method was examined by FTIR spectros-copy. XRD determined the purity and crystallinity, and wurtzite structure of synthesized material. Surface morphology and the effect of doping were examined using SEM and EDX characterization methods. Results showed better conductivity after doping ZnO nanoparti-cles with silver. SEM micrographs showed ZnO:Ag NP in the form of nanorods with a par-ticle average size of 6 nm.
Keywords: ZnO, nanoparticles, sol-gel method, nanorods.