IMPACT OF BLENDING OF SOLVENTS ON CRYSTAL STRUCTURAL AND SURFACE MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WET CHEMICAL SOL-GEL SYNTHESIZED ZnONANO-THIN FILMS

Abstract

The nature of the solvent used to synthesize nanomaterial is one of the key factors that can influence the properties of nanomaterials. In this study, seed solutions containing various solventsblending were prepared at 0.2M concentration to fabricate Zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-thin films by the dip coating technique. Organic solvents such as methanol, ethanol and 2-Methoxyethanol were used to prepare the solvent blending. Various characterization techniques such as XRD diffraction, surface morphology studies using an electronic microscope (FESEM), Raman spectrum analysis, and double beam optical spectrum analysiswere adopted to investigate the influence of solvent blending on nanomaterials' properties. X-diffraction studies confirmed the formation of the wurtzite hexagonal crystal structure of ZnO. Electronic microscopic images evaluated the surface morphology and particle size. The presence of E2 (High) optical vibrating mode in Raman spectra of all the deposited thin films showed that ZnO has a hexagonal crystal structure. Finally, the UV-VIS spectra of the deposited films showed that the optical bandgap varied with the size of the particle clusters.