The Effect of Surfactants and Co-Reagents on the Microstructure, Morphology and Optical Properties of ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized by Microwave Irradiation

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have been synthesized through microwave irradiation by using different surfactants (Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and Sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate SDBS)) and co-reagents (NH3 and NaOH). The synthesized samples were analyzed by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). Depending on the surfactants and reagents used, various ZnO nanostructures having spherical, rectangle, star-like, needle and rod-like structures with different crystallite size have been obtained. The optical and photoluminescence properties of the samples were investigated and discussed in terms of the different surfactant and reagents used for the synthesis.