Analysis of the Nd dopant on optical, dielectric and biological properties of ZnO nanostructures.

The effect of neodymium (Nd ⁺³ ) on ZnO thin films has been studied with varying Nd doping percentage ranging from 1 to 5 wt%. XRD graphs confirmed that Nd ions have incorporated into the ZnO lattice without any structural modification. The increase of crystallite size was observed to vary from 27.5 to 31.90 nm with the increment in Nd amount. The optical spectra exhibited transparency in the visible region. The higher transmission was possessed at 1 wt at% Nd concentration. The band gap of Nd-doped ZnO thin films showed variation with the increase in Nd dopant concentration. The increment in dielectric constant and tangent loss was observed with the increase in Nd doping. The change in DC conductivity with frequency was measured by using Jonscher's power law while AC conductivity was explained with the hopping-barrier mechanism. The effects of Nd concentration on antibacterial efficiency against four different bacterial strains Escherichia coli (E. coli), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Klebsiella Pneumonia (K. Pneumonia), and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were investigated whereas antifungal activity of Nd-ZnO was done against Aspergillus fumigate by using agar disc-diffusion method. ZnO with 4 wt % Nd demonstrated the best photo-catalytic property.
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