Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) Nanoparticles & Tris(8-Hydroxyquinoline) Aluminium (Alq 3 ) as Material Constituents for Fabrication of Alq 3 /ZnO Nanocomposite Systems

We have studied optical and electrical properties of semiconducting Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle systems and the fluorescent matrix of Tris-(8-Hydroxyquinoline) Aluminium (Alq3). To understand these properties we have synthesized ZnO nanoparticles of different particle sizes ranging from ~23 nm to ~110 nm via aqueous sol-gel technique followed by annealing at high temperature and prepared Alq3 compound of planar shaped micro particles. Alq3/ZnO nanocomposites which are prepared by mixing and grinding in specific volume fraction ratio are then used for measuring dielectric properties at room temperature. Measurement techniques like X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet (UV) Spectroscopy and Fourier Transformation Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy are used to determine optical and chemical properties of ZnO and Alq3 constituents. In addition Field Effect Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) together with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS/XDS) is used to study structural properties, particle morphology and elemental phase analysis of ZnO nanoparticles and Alq3 powder. An impedance analyser of frequency range 20 Hz to 25 KHz is further used to determine dielectric constant of varying composition of Alq3 and ZnO in Alq3/ZnO nanocomposite systems. Overall this paper intends to report the synthesis and fabrication techniques, and characterization of composite materials derived from ZnO and Alq3. We further give an outline of some of the promising applications in organic electronics like organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic photovoltaic cells (OPVC) etc.