Impact of CNT Concentrations on Structural, Morphological and Optical Properties of ZnO: CNT Nano composite Films

Abstract In this study, zinc oxide: carbon nanotube (ZnO: CNT) nano composite films with varying CNT concentrations (0,3,5,10, and 15) wt percent were generated utilizing the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) procedure on clean glass substrates at room temperature. The impact of CNT concentration on the structural, morphological, and optical features of ZnO: CNT nano thin films as deposited was examined. X-ray diffraction was used to evaluate the structure of the generated ZnO: CNT thin films, while an atomic force microscope was used to explore the morphological features of the nano films (AFM) and field emission scan electron microscopy (FESEM). The optical properties of prepared thin films were characterized and studied using UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer. The structures of prepared ZnO: CNT with different concentration of CNT thin films were polycrystalline. ZnO: CNT nano thin films were synthesized in hexagonal phase and the dominate orientation is (101). The crystallite sizes are 32 and 26 nm for (101) and (100)) planes for ZnO and ZnO: 15% CNT nano films respectively. These crystallite size are decreased with increasing CNT (0, 3,5,10 and 15) wt. %. The lowest grain size can be shown for ZnO, while the largest grain size can be seen in ZnO: CNT nano thin with 15% concentration, whereas FESEM micrographs displayed a typically rough, pronounced microstructure, with surface protrusions. The energy gap (Eg) of ZnO: CNT nano thin film with various concentrations is computed. The result analysis shows that Eg decreased with increasing CNT weight concentration. This type of behaviors make the prepared films are good candidate for broad range of applications such as optoelectronic and display devices.