Cr–ZnO nanostructured thin film coating on borosilicate glass by cost effective sol–gel dip coating method

Abstract Cr-doped ZnO (0.6 molarity) nanosized particles are synthesized by sol–gel dip coating method on borosilicate glass tube. The structural and optical characterization of the particles has been investigated by TEM, SEM, UV–Vis and FTIR spectroscopy. TEM reveals that the Cr-doped ZnO occurs in uniform surface growth along with spherical in shape having size ∼3 nm. The SEM image shows the growth of nanostructured cluster (average size 75 nm) with large surface area. The UV–Vis spectrum of nanoparticles suggests the use of such nanostructured coating for better solar energy harvesting. FT-IR results show the structural and optical correlation of nanoparticles. This observation excludes the presence of any other Cr or ZnO concerned impurity. The present investigation, deals with potential applications toward the motivation for using nanostructured materials in solar energy conversion.