Dopant induced morphology changes in ZnO nanocrystals

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystals doped with different groups of impurities, e.g., Li, Na, Cu, Pr and Mg synthesized by solid-state reaction method under similar conditions exhibit different morphology. XRD showed monophasic wurtzite structure but change in lattice parameters and Zn–O bond length indicates incorporation of dopant ion in ZnO lattice. The morphology of ZnO nanocrystals exhibited striking dependence on type of dopant ion with the shape changing from nanorods, spherical to petal like particles. Photoluminescence (PL) shows pronounced UV emission and negligible visible emission for Li, Na and Cu doped ZnO nanocrystals with peak positions coinciding with that of undoped ZnO. Whereas signature emission of Pr3+ ion as well as broad visible emission from Mg doped ZnO revealed the role of intra gap metastable states formed by the dopant ion in the emission process.