An investigation of room-temperature sol–gel synthesis Ag doped ZnO nano-particles are reported here. The effect of silver concentration (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 at. wt.%) on the morphology, structural and optical properties of the Ag doped ZnO nanoparticles are studied. XRD analysis displays the hexagonal wurtzite structure. The crystallite size was found to decrease in the range 36.95–28.11 nm with the increase in Ag dopant percentage. With enhancement in the Ag contents, the crystallite size decreases and specific surface area increases which suggest their use in biological science and photocatalysis. Surface morphology shows that grains are irregular, cuboid, linear and spherical shaped nanoparticles with slightly varying sizes. The Ag doped ZnO nanoparticles show interesting properties, which are modified by the change of the grain size with increase in Ag dopant percentage. The band gap of the nanoparticles decreases with increase in Ag doping where 10 at. wt.% Ag dopant nanoparticles have a notably lower band gap than that of undoped ZnO (3.37 eV). Photoluminescence spectra has shown the violet shift emission bands. The optical properties predict the use of Ag doped ZnO nanoparticles in solar cells, optoelectronics, spintronics and wastewater treatment.

中文翻译：

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Ag掺杂对ZnO纳米颗粒的结构、光学、形态、光学和光致发光性能的影响

这里报道了对室温溶胶-凝胶合成 Ag 掺杂的 ZnO 纳米颗粒的研究。研究了银浓度（2、4、6、8 和 10 at. wt.%）对 Ag 掺杂的 ZnO 纳米颗粒的形态、结构和光学性质的影响。XRD 分析显示六方纤锌矿结构。发现随着 Ag 掺杂剂百分比的增加，微晶尺寸在 36.95-28.11 nm 范围内减小。随着银含量的增加，微晶尺寸减小，比表面积增加，这表明它们在生物科学和光催化中的应用。表面形态表明，颗粒是不规则的、长方体的、线性的和球形的纳米颗粒，尺寸略有不同。Ag 掺杂的 ZnO 纳米粒子显示出有趣的特性，随着 Ag 掺杂剂百分比的增加，晶粒尺寸会发生变化。纳米粒子的带隙随着 Ag 掺杂的增加而减小，其中 10 at。wt.% Ag 掺杂剂纳米粒子的带隙明显低于未掺杂的 ZnO (3.37 eV)。光致发光光谱显示紫移发射带。光学特性预测了掺杂 Ag 的 ZnO 纳米粒子在太阳能电池、光电子学、自旋电子学和废水处理中的用途。