International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Feb 2011)

Use of a Reflectance Spectroscopy Accessory for Optical Characterization of ZnO-Bi2O3-TiO2 Ceramics

  • Reza Zamiri,
  • Mohd Hafiz Mohd Zaid,
  • Mansor Hashim,
  • Mohd Sabri Mohd Ghazali,
  • Azmi Zakaria,
  • Halimah Mohamed Kamari,
  • Zahid Rizwan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms12031496
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 3
pp. 1496 – 1504

Abstract

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The optical band-gap energy (Eg) is an important feature of semiconductors which determines their applications in optoelectronics. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the electronic states of ceramic ZnO and the effect of doped impurities under different processing conditions. Eg of the ceramic ZnO + xBi2O3 + xTiO2, where x = 0.5 mol%, was determined using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer attached to a Reflectance Spectroscopy Accessory for powdered samples. The samples was prepared using the solid-state route and sintered at temperatures from 1140 to 1260 °C for 45 and 90 minutes. Eg was observed to decrease with an increase of sintering temperature. XRD analysis indicated hexagonal ZnO and few small peaks of intergranular layers of secondary phases. The relative density of the sintered ceramics decreased and the average grain size increased with the increase of sintering temperature.

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