STRUCTURAL, THERMAL AND OPTICAL ANALYSIS OF Fe - DOPED NiO NANOPARTICLES FOR THERMOELECTRIC AND OPTOELECTRONIC APPLICATIONS

Abstract

This study is based on the structural, thermal and optical analysis of pure and Fe doped NiO nanoparticles synthesized by the sol-gel method. At a calcined temperature of 500⁰C for two hours, four samples (pure NiO, 2% Fe, 4% Fe, and 6% Fe doped NiO) have been prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and UV-Visible spectroscopy. XRD confirms a single-phase FCC cubic structure with increasing average crystalline sizes of the particles, when the concentration of Fe increases. SEM reveals nanoparticles with increasing sizes, as Fe concentration increases the size of nanoparticles increases from 33.87nm (pure) to 63.89nm (6% Fe doped). TGA results show that less weight loss occurred in Fe-doped samples as compared to pure NiO; this led to enhanced thermal stability of prepared nanoparticles. The UV-visible result indicates red shift with an increasing rate of absorption in the Fe-doped sample than in pure NiO. Also, the Tauc-Plot method shows that the shrinkage of energy band gap in Fe-doped samples, when compared to pure NiO sample. This study showed that doping of Fe in NiO enhances the structural, thermal and optical properties of the material. Iron-doped nickel oxide nanoparticles have the right structural, thermal, and optical properties to be used in thermoelectric and optoelectronic devices.