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Synthesis and characterization of Ag-doped ZnO by one-step microwave-assisted hydrothermal methods

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Abstract

Ag-doped ZnO particles have been synthesized by one-step microwave-assisted hydrothermal methods at 110 °C with different molar concentrations of Ag+ as dopant. X-ray diffraction results disclosed a successful doping of Ag, in which it exists as interstitial atom. Scanning electron microscopy results show bi-pillar-shaped hexagonal structures for sample without silver doping, but single hexagonal pillar with different micro-structures for samples with doping. Room-temperature photoluminescence spectra show a co-emission of a near-bandgap emission and a broad orange emission peak, which means a large density of oxygen interstitials. By analyzing experimental results, the existence of Ag+ in solutions is suggested as the key factor for the formation of hollow single pillar structure of ZnO. The corresponding growth mechanism is suggested to understand the formation of structures.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this research are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No: 11174241) and foundation from Yantai University (No. 2211009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Electronic Information, Yantai University, Yantai, 264005, China

    Yuanping Sun, Tiantian Deng & Hongying Guo

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  1. Yuanping Sun
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  2. Tiantian Deng
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  3. Hongying Guo
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Contributions

YS: contributed to the experiment design, data analysis, manuscript preparation, writing, and editing. TD: contributed to the experiment conduction, sample characterization, and manuscript preparation, who contributed equally to this work with YS. HG contributed to the data analysis, growth mechanism analysis, and the validation.

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Correspondence to Yuanping Sun.

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Sun, Y., Deng, T. & Guo, H. Synthesis and characterization of Ag-doped ZnO by one-step microwave-assisted hydrothermal methods. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 923 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10321-0

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