THE INFLUENCE OF THE THERMAL TREATMENT ON LUMINESCENCE PROPERTIES OF ZnO.

As one of the most suitable materials with size- and dimensionality-dependent functional properties, wide bandgap semiconducting ZnO nanostructures have attracted many researchers in recent years. For example, ZnO has been assembled into nanometer-scale visible-light-blind ultraviolet (UV) light sensors with high sensitivity and selectivity, in addition to other applications such as field emitters and lasers. In this paper nanocrystalline ZnO particles were prepared from n-buthanol solution of zinc acetate dihydrate without using base, through a colloid process carried out at refluxing temperature of 118°C. The ZnO nanopowder obtained was characterised by means of XRD, TEM, TG-DSC, UV-Vis, FTIR and fluorescence spectra. The influence of the thermal treatment applied after synthesis on luminescence properties was monitored. We found that there is a clear correlation between the annealing temperature and the ratio of the intensities of the near band-edge and green emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]