Comparison of Ag and Zr substitution on the structural and optical behaviour of ZnO nanoparticles

Silver (Ag) and zirconium (Zr) doped ZnO (Ag-doped ZnO and Zr-doped ZnO) nanostructures were prepared utilizing the co-precipitation method, and the physical properties of all prepared samples were characterized utilizing X-ray diffractions, energy dispersive X-ray, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Ag-doped ZnO and Zr-doped ZnO exhibit the hexagonal wurtzite structure, and the elemental analysis shows that the Ag and Zr concentrations on the samples were 3 atomic percent (at.%). The grain sizes of both samples were examined using Williamson-Hall plots with three different approaches using the uniform deformation model. The band gap energy of the prepared samples investigated using Kubelka-Munk analysis showed a red-shift to a lower energy compared to the band gap of ZnO nanoparticles, and the Zr-doped ZnO shows the lowest band gap energy. The red-shift of the band gap energy from Ag-doped ZnO and Zr-doped ZnO is probably due to the decreased grain size of both samples.