Preparation of nitrogen doped zinc oxide nanoparticles and thin films by colloidal route and low temperature nitridation process

• A simple and original route to nitrogen-doped nanocrystalline thin films.
• Synthesis of Zn-deficient N-doped ZnO nanoparticles from ZnO2.
• Effective conversion of pyrite ZnO2 films into wurtzite ZnO thin films.
• No degradation of the films during chemical conversion.

Nitrogen doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have been synthesized using a colloidal route and low temperature nitridation process. Based on these results, 200 nm thick transparent ZnO thin films have been prepared by dip-coating on SiO2 substrate from a ZnO colloidal solution. Zinc peroxide (ZnO2) thin film was then obtained after the chemical conversion of a ZnO colloidal thin film by H2O2 solution. Finally, a nitrogen doped ZnO nanocrystalline thin film (ZnO:N) was obtained by ammonolysis at 250 °C. All the films have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV–Visible transmittance spectroscopy.

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