Document Type : Original Article
Authors
Department of Physics, College of Science, University Of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq
Abstract
The present work explored a low cost approach to synthesize zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles employing pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL). The ablated material was pelletized into a disk with a diameter of 2 cm and annealed at 400 °C for one hour. NPs were prepared with a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm wavelength and various energy levels (500, 600, and 700) mJ at a pulse count of 1000 pulses. The samples were initially examined by UV-Vis: for the latter, a power dependence (increasing laser power led to increased absorption in the 200–400 nm wavelength range) was found. the absorption peak was at about 370-380 nm. Furthermore, Zeta potential increased with the higher laser power, indicating the superior stability of floating nanoparticles. Lastly, Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) showed a power dependent increase of the nanoparticles. For the UV-Vis, Zeta potential and FAAS experiments, 700 mJ of power was the best condition. Hence, the selected samples were further analyzed for crystalline phase by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic composition was determined by Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), size and shape were analyzed by Transmission Electron Microscope(TEM). The XRD diffraction data demonstrates various hexagonal phase crystalline structure for zinc (Zn), ZnO and ZnO2. The diffraction peaks were exhibited at different 2θ positions and were calculated crystal sizes of (12.92–90.74) nm. EDX was used to verify that the nanoparticles have the targeted elemental stoichiometry. TEM examination confirmed the spherical shape of the particles with an average size diameter of approximately 12 nm.
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