Structural and optical properties of poly-vinylpyrrolidone modified ZnO nanorods synthesized through simple hydrothermal process

The synthesis of nanocrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) in the presence of poly-vinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as capping agent through hydrothermal process, and their structural and optical properties were reported. PVP modified ZnO nanorods grown hydrothermally involve a heterogeneous chemical reaction in the presence of water as a solvent medium and reaction temperature of 100 °C for 7 h in a hot air oven and calcined in air at 500 °C for 3 h. Crystal structure, phase purity and average crystallite size of ZnO were studied by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). The strain associated with the as-prepared samples due to lattice deformation was estimated by Williamson–Hall (W–H) analysis. Structural morphology was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which showed the formation of nanorods with PVP capping. The growth mechanism of ZnO nanorods and its capping by poly-vinylpyrrolidone are briefly discussed through FT-IR adsorption spectra. The optical behavior of the samples was analyzed through photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy with an emission spectra in visible region ∼418 nm indicate the applicability of using it as a transport material in solar cells.