Title: Optical and magnetic properties of Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by the sol-gel method

Authors: Talaat M. Hammad; Stefan Griesing; Matthias Wotocek; Sylvia Kuhn; Rolf Hempelmann; Uwe Hartmann; Jamil K. Salem

Addresses: Physics Department, Al-Azhar University, P.O. Box 1244, Gaza, Palestine ' Experimental Physics, Saarland University, D-66123 Saarbrucken, Germany ' Physical Chemistry, Saarland University, D-66123 Saarbrucken, Germany ' Physical Chemistry, Saarland University, D-66123 Saarbrucken, Germany ' Physical Chemistry, Saarland University, D-66123 Saarbrucken, Germany ' Experimental Physics, Saarland University, D-66123 Saarbrucken, Germany ' Chemistry Department, Al-Azhar University, P.O. Box 1244, Gaza, Palestine

Abstract: Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared in a solvo-thermal via sol-gel process by base-catalysed hydrolysis of zinc acetate with doping concentrations from 2 up to 5% Fe. The structural, magnetic and optical properties of the samples were studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, superconducting quantum interferometer device (SQUID) and UV-VIS spectroscopy. A reduction in particle size was shown with increase in the dopant (Fe) concentration in ZnO. The Fe-doped ZnO samples possess ferromagnetism at room temperature with significant changes in M-H loop with increasing doping concentration. The hysteresis loops reveal that the saturation magnetisation Ms and the coercivity Hc for 2% Fe and 5% Fe-doped ZnO are 2.29 emu/g, 3.91 emu/g, 671 Oe and 659 Oe, respectively. The optical properties were determined by UV-vis spectroscopy and photoluminescent spectroscopy. In this study, the optical band gap of ZnO nanoparticles increased from 3.5 eV to 3.71 eV when the Fe concentration was increased up to 5%. In the present work, the optical and magnetic properties of Fe doped ZnO nanoparticles are improved by a sol gel method.

Keywords: optical properties; magnetic properties; structural properties; iron doping; ZnO nanoparticles; zinc oxide; sol gel; nanotechnology; particle size; hysteresis loops; saturation magnetisation; coercivity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNP.2013.057175

International Journal of Nanoparticles, 2013 Vol.6 No.4, pp.324 - 337

Received: 08 Oct 2012
Accepted: 15 Mar 2013
Published online: 31 Mar 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article