Preparation and Characterisation of ZnO - SiO2 and Bi2O3 – CuO Nanocomposites

Abstract

In the present work, ZnO - SiO₂ and Bi₂O₃– CuO nanocomposites have been prepared by sol gel with alternate precursors existing in literature. They are characterised by XRD, SEM,UV, FTIR and photoluminescence spectra .The XRD results indicate a crystallite size of approximately 80 nm for both nanocomposites. SEM image shows a heterogeneous particle size for both samples. The band gap of ZnO - SiO₂ and Bi₂O₃– CuO obtained from Taucs plot is 4.1 eV and 2.85 eV, respectively. PL spectra show high intensity absorption for ZnO-SiO₂ in comparison to Bi₂O₃–CuO. The composites of Bi₂O₃–CuO is recommended for efficient optical coating against the coating made from Bi₂O₃_.