Structural, optical and magnetic properties of Ni-doped ZnO micro-rods grown by the spray pyrolysis method

► Ni doping on structural, optical and magnetic properties of ZnO micro-rods reported. ► XRD and SEM show micro-rods with polycrystalline structure and c-axis orientation. ► PL shows incorporation of Ni gives increase of blue defect band intensity. ► Magnetic measurements show that Ni-doped ZnO have ferromagnetic behavior at 300 K.