Structural studies of Mn doped ZnO nanoparticles

Mn substituted ZnO nanoparticles with compositional formula Zn1−xMnxO where x = 0.00, 0.04 and 0.08 were synthesized by sol-gel route. All the samples sintered at 650 °C for 12 h in a furnace followed by furnace cooling up to room temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies shows the presence of hexagonal crystal structure as same as parent compound (ZnO) in all samples. The lattice parameters ‘a’ and ‘c’ were determined from XRD data and found that they increase linearly with the Mn content, which suggests that doped Mn ions go to Zn sites. Grain size, X-ray density and Atomic packing fraction (APF) were evaluated using XRD data and found that grain size increases while X-ray density and Atomic packing fraction (APF) decreases with dopant concentration increases. The functional groups and chemical interactions of Mn substituted Zinc oxide samples were also determined at various peaks using FTIR data and observed the presence of function groups in the samples. Results of such an investigation presented in this paper.

Research highlights
► Mn substituted ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by sol–gel method.
► Maintained wurtzite structure of ZnO upto 8% of Mn doping without any extra peaks of impurities.
► Prominent IR peaks analyzed qualitatively.