Formation of flower-like ZnO clusters by precipitation method

ZnO is a semiconductor with wide direct band gap (3.37 eV) and high exciton binding energy of 60 meV. It has attracted in several applications such as solar cells, field emission, sensor, etc. In this study, a new type of flower-like ZnO clusters was prepared by precipitation method. Zinc nitrate as zinc source, potassium hydroxide as precipitating agent and sodium dodecly sulphate as surfactant were used to synthesis the ZnO. The influences of existing surfactant and sonication process on the morphology and size of final product have been investigated. The morphologies were investigated by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) while the identification of element in final product was determined by using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The products also were characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Photoluminescence spectrophotometer (PL). The SEM images show the different morphology of ZnO such as flower composed of rods and single rods and the elements of zinc and oxygen was found from EDS. From XRD patterns, all synthesized ZnO shows good crystallinity. A two emissions peak was found for all samples from PL spectra. The ZnO prepared with present SDS and ultrasonic treatment show higher UV emission which is indicates the good optical property.