Zinc oxide nanoparticles with incorporated silver: Structural, morphological, optical and vibrational properties

Graphical abstract: Local vibrational modes of ZnO:Ag nanoparticles. - Highlights: • Formation of Ag biphases is observed when the Ag content increases. • The SPR property has been monitored in the UV–visible regime. • PL emission of ZnO:Ag nanoparticles are associated to structural defects. • A new local vibrational mode induced by Ag content were observed in the Raman spectra. - Abstract: Zinc oxide nanoparticles with different amounts of incorporated silver (ZnO:Ag; 0.6, 3, 6, and 9 at.% Ag) have been successfully synthesized by a simple sol gel method. The effect of Ag content on the properties of ZnO nanoparticles have been studied by various characterization techniques. The results from X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy (RS) suggest that elemental silver is present as a second phase. The UV–visible absorption and photoluminescence (PL) properties of the samples were also studied. PL data at room temperature reveals a strong blue emission. In addition, Raman spectroscopy results indicate a very strong A₁(LO) mode resulting from oxygen vacancies and zinc interstitials. A new local vibrational mode (LVM) at 480 cm⁻¹ induced by silver can also be observed in the Raman spectra, suggesting silver incorporation into the ZnO lattice compensating the Zn vacancies, which is consistent with the XRD results