Structural and optical properties of Co-doped ZnO nanocrystallites prepared by a one-step solution route

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystallites with different Co-doping levels were successfully synthesized by a simple one-step solution route at low temperature (95 °C) in this study. The structure and morphology of the samples thus obtained were characterized by XRD, EDS, XPS and FESEM. Results show that cobalt ions, in the oxidation state of Co²⁺, replace Zn²⁺ ions in the ZnO lattice without changing its wurtzite structure. The dopant content varies from 0.59% to 5.39%, based on Co-doping levels. The pure ZnO particles exhibit well-defined 3D flower-like morphology with an average size of 550 nm, while the particles obtained after Co-doping are mostly cauliflower-like nanoclusters with an average size of 120 nm. Both the flower-like pure ZnO and the cauliflower-like Co:ZnO nanoclusters are composed of densely arrayed nanorods. The optical properties of the ZnO nanocrystallites following Co-doping were also investigated by UV–Visible absorption and Photoluminescence spectra. Our results indicate that Co-doping can change the energy-band structure and effectively adjust the luminescence properties of ZnO nanocrystallites.