Effect of zinc concentration on physical properties of copper oxide (Cu1−xZnxO)

Zn-doped CuO (Cu1−xZnxO) nano-rods have been prepared by simple chemical solution method, using Cu(CH3COO)2·5H2O and NaOH as precursors. Prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). XRD results showed that grain size of the as-prepared samples increased while strain and dislocation density were found to decrease with the increase in Zn concentration. The absorption bands in FTIR spectra between the region 500–700 cm−1 indicated the formation of Cu1−x Zn x O. The band gap measured from DRS exhibited an increasing trend (1.29–1.43 eV) with increasing Zn concentration. Absorption coefficient for reference sample was calculated to be 5.25 × 104 cm−1 at 600 nm wavelength, and a decrease of 1.14 % was observed as the Zn concentration increased from 0 to 8 %. With maximum value of absorption coefficient and thermal absorptance in visible region, and its band gap energy close to that of an ideal material for photovoltaic conversion efficiency, suggests that Cu1−xZnxO is potentially a good candidate for solar absorption.