Synthesis of Mn doped ZnO nanoparticles with biocompatible capping

Free standing nanoparticles of ZnO doped with transition metal ion Mn have been prepared by solid state reaction method at 500 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed high quality monophasic wurtzite hexagonal structure with particle size of 50 nm and no signature of dopant as separate phase. Incorporation of Mn has been confirmed with EDS. Bio-inorganic interface was created by capping the nanoparticles with heteromultifunctional organic stabilizer mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA). The surface morphological studies by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed formation of spherical particles and the nanoballs grow in size uniformly with MSA capping. MSA capping has been confirmed with thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and FTIR. Photoluminescence (PL) studies show that the ZnO:Mn²⁺ particles are excitable by blue light and emits in orange and red. Occurrence of room temperature ferromagnetism in Mn doped ZnO makes such biocompatible luminescent magnetic nanoparticles very promising material.