Effect of solvents on structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by microwave heating route

Abstract Herein, we have studied the effects of solvents on structural, optical and electrical properties of prismatic shaped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles synthesized through microwave heating method. The samples were prepared by using various solvents viz., water (WT), digol (DEG), 2-propanol (2-PL) and ethylene glycol (EG). The XRD (X-ray diffraction) and FE-SEM (Field emission scanning electron microscopy) results confirmed that the crystallite size and growth of ZnO nanoparticles depended on the solvents used. EDAX analysis evaluates the Zinc (Zn) and oxygen (O) composition in the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles. The absorbance and reflectance studies were undertaken by UV-Visible spectroscopy. The energy gap of synthesized ZnO nanostructures was calculated using Kubelka-Munk plot. I-V characterization study was performed to estimate the current intensity of ZnO films.