Influence of glucose on the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films prepared by sol–gel method

In this work, ZnO thin films were prepared by sol–gel method on glass substrates followed by calcinations at 500 °C for an hour. The effect of glucose on the structure and optical properties of the films was studied. The structural characteristics of the samples were analyzed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The optical properties were studied by a UV–visible spectrophotometer. The results show that some of the prepared ZnO thin films have a high preferential oriented c-axis orientation with compact hexagonal wurtzite structure due to a proper amount of glucose introducing. After introducing the glucose additive in ZnO colloids, the intensity of (002) peak, the transmittance, and the optical band gap of the ZnO thin films increases because of the enhanced ZnO crystallization. On the contrary, the absorbance, the film thickness, and the surface root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of the ZnO thin films decreases. The glucose additive could not only improve the surface RMS roughness and microstructure of ZnO thin films, but also enhance the transmittance and the energy band gap more easily.