Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of Tungsten-doped ZnO nanoparticles as an environmentally friendly substance

Abstract

Hexagonal-structured zinc oxide (ZnO) is a semiconductor material with various industrial and cosmetic applications. Some of the main limitations of ZnO are aggregation, poor dispersibility, and wide energy gap, which limit its efficiency in some applications. The present study aimed to synthesize tungsten (W)-doped ZnO nanostructures using a hydrothermal method and characterize the particles to discover their application potency in various fields. To do so, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% of tungsten oxide (WO) were incorporated into the structure of ZnO, and the properties of the particles were determined via SEM, XRD, FTIR, AFM, DLS, and UV-Vis spectroscopy and zeta potential analysis. According to the obtained SEM images and XRD patterns, the prepared particles possessed hexagonal, non-aggregated structures. Furthermore, the UV-Vis spectra and AFM micrograms indicated that the doping of the ZnO nanostructures with tungsten caused a spectral shift in the absorbance of ZnO nanoparticles from the UV region to the visible light spectrum, increasing their relative roughness. According to DLS analysis, doping decreased the particle size of ZnO. In general, our findings demonstrated that the doping of ZnO nanostructures with tungsten could promote their efficiency and applicability in the treatment of environmental pollutants.