Study of ZnO and Mg doped ZnO nanoparticles by sol-gel process

Nano-crystalline undoped and Mg doped ZnO (Mg-ZnO) nanoparticles with compositional formula Mg_xZn_1-xO (x=0,1,3,5,7,10 and 12 %) were synthesized using sol-gel process. The XRD diffraction peaks match with the pattern of the standard hexagonal structure of ZnO that reveals the formation of hexagonal wurtzite structure in all samples. SEM images demonstrates clearly the formation of spherical ZnO nanoparticles, and change of the morphology of the nanoparticles with the concentration of the magnesium, which is in close agreement with that estimated by Scherer formula based on the XRD pattern. To investigate the doping effect on optical properties, the UV–VIS absorption spectra was obtained and the band gap of the samples calculated