The microstructure and optical property of Na-doped ZnO system by sol-gel method

Pure and Na-doped ZnO (2 at.%, 5 at.% and 10 at.%) films are synthesized by sol-gel method and annealed at 500 °C for 4 h. The as-synthesized nanoparticles are characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The samples exhibited hexagonal ZnO lattice structure and another Na2O2 phase was detected in the 5 at.% Na-doped ZnO sample. The calculated average crystalline size increases from 42.0 nm to 43.5 nm when Na content increased from 0 to 10 at.%. FESEM and TEM analysis identifies that the average size of the Na-doped ZnO nanoparticles lies in between 50 nm and they appear in spheroid-like or rod-like shape. The transmittance of the sample was above 80% and the results of photocatalytic activity show that Na-doped ZnO nanoparticles exhibit higher photodegradation activity (about 91%) than pure ZnO nanoparticles under UV irradiation.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author