Effect of Sintering Temperature on Zn0.94Cr0.03Fe0.03O Nanostructures

In present work, we report structural, morphological and optical properties of Zn0.94Cr0.03Fe0.03O nanostructures synthesized by hydrothermal method. The as prepared Zn0.94Cr0.03Fe0.03O samples were sintered in air at different temperatures (RT- 400 0C) to understand the effect of sintering temperature on the structural, morphological and optical properties of Zn0.94Cr0.03Fe0.03O nanostructures. The samples are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), photoluminescence (PL) and UV-visible spectroscopy. The XRD patterns show a pure phase corresponding to ZnO without any other phases, indicating that Cr and Fe atoms are successfully doped into the lattice of ZnO. Moreover, PL spectrum also confirms the wurtzite phase formation of ZnO. Furthermore, the optical band gaps calculated through UV-visible spectroscopy is found to be decreasing as increasing the sintering temperature.