Synthesis of ZnO thin film by chemical spray pyrolysis using its nano powder

Abstract

The deposition of metal oxides powder faces several problems, including poor adhesion to the bases deposited on them, the presence of many cracks, poor thickness control, and other disadvantages. The current study gives a new and simple idea to deposit thin films using two ZnO powders with nano and microparticle sizes on glass substrates. This was done by transforming the powders to Zinc acetate and then using chemical spray pyrolysis to deposit ZnO thin films. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed that the prepared film from the nanopowder (ZnONano) lost the independence of powder’s nanoparticles and became a homogeneous film with nano projections. But the deposited one from the micro powder (ZnOMicro) had both nanorods and nanoplates. The different shapes and sizes of ZnO particles in ZnOMicro powder were disappeared after the Spray process. The two deposited films were homogeneous, crack-free and there were controllable thicknesses during the deposition. X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used to measure weights and atomic percentages of elements for the deposited films. The structures of the deposited films were approximately identical as the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique showed. The optical properties of these two films were studied and their parameters were measured and calculated.