Characterization of electrospun aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanofibers

Al (1at.%)-doped ZnO (AZO) nanofibers with diameters of 257–627nm were prepared by using electrospun PVA/zinc acetate–aluminum chloride composite fibers by drying for 24h at 80°C in vacuum and subsequent annealing for 2h at temperatures in the range of 400°C to 600°C in air. The properties of AZO fibers were characterized with an aid of XRD, DSC/TG, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, spectrofluorometer, viscometer, pycnometer and dynamic tensiometer. Uniform and smooth fibers with a diameter of 257nm were observed for the AZO fibers containing polyvinyl alcohol of 40g at a flow rate of 0.05ml/h and an electric field of 1.1kV/cm. The FT-IR observation of the strong and broad absorption peaks of O–H bonds around 3430cm− 1 and 2361cm− 1 suggested that the interstitial H atoms were bonded with oxygen atoms for the O–H stretch modes. The peaks around ~ 1635cm− 1 may be responsible for the Zn–H bond, a zinc vacancy having two hydrogen atoms. Photoluminescence spectra at room temperature showed a narrow ultraviolet emission at 3.24eV and a broad green emission at 2.43eV. A peak broadening in the green emission may be attributed to Al doping.