Abstract

• The main aim of the research work is to study the optical properties of undoped ZnO and Ni doped ZnO. Undoped ZnO and Ni doped ZnO were prepared by using a co-precipitation method. The prepared undoped ZnO and Ni doped ZnO were characterized by Thermogravimetric-Differential Thermal Analysis(TG-DTA), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-red (FT IR) spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometry and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analyses.TG-DTA analysis of the synthesized undoped ZnO and Ni doped ZnO were carried out to determine the appropriate calcination temperature. From XRD analysis, it was observed that the average crystallite sizes of the prepared undoped ZnO and Ni doped ZnO were 28 and 22 nm, respectively. In FT IR spectra of undoped ZnO and Ni doped ZnO powder, the prominent peak of OH stretching, H-O-H bending and M-O stretching vibrations were observed. Morphological studies were conducted using SEM to confirm the uniform distribution of particles. UV-Visible spectrum showed the absorbance peaks in the 200-800 nm region. From UV-Visible spectral data, it was found that the band gap values of undoped ZnO and Ni doped ZnO are 2.7 and 2.8 eV, respectively.