Fabrication and Characterization of CuO-ZnO-Cu2O Nano-Composites by Sol-Gel Route: Effect of Calcinations Temperature

摘要

Mixed CuO-ZnO-Cu2O nano-composites have been prepared by a sol-gel route using monoethanolamine/isopropanol solutions and metal acetate precursors which is simple and cost effective. The precursor powders were analyzed by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermogravimetry (DTG). X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to characterize the structural and the chemical features of the nano-composites. It was observed that the crystal structure changed from ZnO-CuO-Cu2O-Cu with 31.6, 5.5, 24.9, 38 (%w/w) at 350 degrees C calcinations temperature to 42.4, 48.7, 6.1, 2.8 (%w/w) at 550 degrees C calcinations temperature. XRD measurements indicated an increase in the ratio of ZnO-CuO while the ratio of Cu2O-Cu was decreased. The ZnO-CuO-Cu2O-Cu nano-composites with different content ratios were formed. The crystalline characteristics depended primarily on the calcinations temperature. These semiconducting composite oxides have potential applications in electronics and optoelectronics. An average nano-crystallite size of 68nm was obtained as estimated by Scherrer's equation. The optical properties were also investigated using diffuse reflectance (DRS) spectroscopy.