Synthesis and characterization of aluminum doped zinc oxide nanostructures via hydrothermal route

Stable crystalline aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) nanopowders were synthesized using hydrothermal treatment processing. Three different aluminum precursors have been used. The Al-precursors were found to affect the morphology of the obtained nanopowders. AZO nanoparticles based on zinc acetate and aluminum nitrate have been prepared with different Al/Zn molar ratios. XRD investigations revealed that all the obtained powders have single phase zincite structure with purity of about 99%. The effect of aluminum doping ratio in AZO nanoparticles (based on Al-nitrate precursor) on structure, phase composition, and particle size has been investigated. The incorporation of Al in ZnO was confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy revealing a blue shift due to Burstein-Moss effect