Structural and magnetic behavior of Ni/Mn co-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by co-precipitation method

In this paper, the structural and magnetic behavior of Ni/Mn co-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by co-precipitation method are presented. Powder X-ray diffraction data confirm the formation of a single phase wurtzite type of ZnO structure for all the synthesized Ni, Mn doped and co-doped ZnO nanoparticles. The average crystallite size of NPs is found to be 26–38 nm. FTIR and UV spectroscopic results confirm the incorporation of the dopant into the ZnO lattice structure. Photoluminescence intensity varies with doping due to the increase of oxygen vacancies. Furthermore, M-H curve demonstrates that the Ni/Mn co-doped ZnO NPs possess obvious ferromagnetic characteristics at room temperature. Our study enhances the understanding of the novel performances of transition metal co-doped ZnO NPs and also provides possibilities to fabricate spintronic devices.