Photoluminescence studies of curcumin doped ZnO nanoparticles

Here we propose that a novel curcumin doped ZnO nanoparticles can be synthesized by a mixture of zinc nitrate and curcumin in the presence of potassium hydroxide. The particles self-assemble to form spindle-like morphologies at ambient condition. The curcumin doped ZnO nanoparticles are similar to ZnO in their scanning electron microscopy images and X-ray diffraction pattern with hexagonal phase diffraction peak having wurtzite structure but the fourier transform infra red spectral, Raman spectral, apparent zeta potential, thermogravimetric analysis and diffuse reflectance data confirm that curcumin doped ZnO are different than ZnO or curcumin anchored with ZnO. The photoluminescence properties of curcumin doped ZnO particles shows a visible luminescence during ultra violet excitation and strong visible emission due to curcumin indicating that the photoluminescence behaviour of curcumin doped ZnO is different from naked ZnO.