The effect of Cu2+ on structure, morphology and optical properties of flower-like ZnO synthesized using the chemical bath deposition method

In this work undoped and Cu2+-doped ZnO nanostructures were prepared by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method at 80 °C. The structural, optical and luminescence properties of the undoped and Cu2+-doped ZnO nanostructures were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV–Visible Spectroscopy (UV) and Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) analyses. XRD analysis showed the sample prepared were hexagonal ZnO with grain sizes in the order of 46±1 nm. The estimated grain size was found not to dependent on the concentration of the Cu2+ ions used. The SEM analysis revealed that the shapes of the particles were flower-like and the addition of Cu2+ ions influenced the morphology of the samples. In the UV–Visible study the reflectance intensity decreased with an increase in the molar concentration of Cu2+ and there was no shift in the absorption edges. The PL analyses revealed that the highest luminescence intensity was obtained for the undoped ZnO. Thus Cu incorporated into the ZnO resulted in the change in its morphological, structural, and optical and luminescence properties.