Temperature effect on crystal structures, morphological shapes, and functional groups of zinc oxide

Zinc oxide has always been one of the most important materials for advanced applications, even with different shapes and sizes. In this present study, we report the crystal formation, morphological behavior, and functional group characteristics of zinc oxide materials. A sol-gel technique at ambient condition was chosen to fabricate the zinc oxide from zinc acetate precursor. In case of low purity of zinc oxide phase formation, heat treatment can solve the problem. We observed that the annealing temperature enables the reduction of impurities or undesirable crystalline phases and therefore enhance the properties of the produced zinc oxide. The crystal structure of zinc oxide was investigated using X-ray diffraction and analyzed using Rietveld refinement method. The morphological characteristics were captured by scanning electron microscopy and the functional groups were recorded using Fourier transform infra-red. In general, the heating temperature significantly reduces the impurities, enlarges the crystal unit-cells and reduces particle agglomeration. In addition, the functional groups discussed in this study are strongly correlated with the crystal structure formation.