INFLUENCE OF CR DOPANT ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF ZNO NANORODS

Article history: One-dimensional (1D) undoped and Cr doped ZnO nanorods with average length of 1 µm and diameter of 80 nm were synthesized using hydrothermal method. The effects of Cr dopant on the structure, surface morphology and optical properties of nanorods were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ultra-violet visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The results showed that ZnO is crystallized in wurtzite hexagonal crystal structure. Moreover, it was found that Cr atoms were incorporated in the ZnO lattice and made a regular red-shift on the XRD peaks. Also, with respect to the optical properties it was concluded that doped ZnO nanorods were quite appropriate for photocatalytic applications, because the lower the optical band gap, the higher the light gain by the photocatalyst material. For example, the calculated band gap of ZnO nanorod decreased from 3.12 eV for pure ZnO nanorods to about 2.41eV for 3at.% Cr doped ZnO nanorods, which is quite enough to be activated even at visible (550nm) light for photocatalyst aims.

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