Enhancement in dielectric and optical properties of Al doped ZnO/ reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite

ABSTRACT

Al-doped ZnO/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (Al-ZnO/rGO NC) has been produced by the chemical method. The structural characteristics of rGO and Al-doped ZnO were confirmed by using XRD. Wurtzite structure with no impurity phase was observed after Al addition to ZnO lattice. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) was used to display the morphological information of nanocomposite which reveals the Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles to get dispersed over the rGO sheet. The optical and dielectric properties of obtained composite were investigated. The optical absorption spectra have been studied using UV-visible spectroscopy which showed a red shift in the absorbance band and decrease in the bandgap with increase in the amount of rGO NCs. A significant improvement in the dielectric constant was observed in Al-ZnO/rGO nanocomposite which ascribed to interfacial polarization between Al-doped ZnO and rGO. Further, the electrical conductivity of NCs also improved which supports the electron transfer phenomenon of rGO.

KEYWORDS:

• Al-ZnO/rGO nanocomposite
• XRD
• optical and dielectric properties

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Director, Sophisticated Analytical Instrumentation Facility (SAIF) lab, Panjab University Chandigarh, for allowing us to use the characterization facilities such as XRD and FTIR. The authors are also thankful to Mr Rohit Kumar and Mr Ram Dev for their assistance during the preparation of samples.

Disclosure statement

There is no conflict of interest to declare.