Synthesis of imine-bearing ZnO nanoparticle thin films and characterization of their structural, morphological and optical properties

We are presenting the first report on the fabrication of imine-bearing ZnO nanoparticle thin films grown on Corning glass by spin coating. The sol was prepared by dissolving imine-bearing ZnO nanoparticles in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The thickness of the films was manipulated to be 125–200 nm. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed hexagonal wurtzite structure of imine-bearing ZnO nanoparticles thin films with a (002) preferential orientation. The stretching of chemical bonds of the imine linkage and Zn–O in imine-bearing ZnO nanoparticle thin films was confirmed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The grain size of the films increased with increasing the thickness of the films due to the number of coatings and subsequently dried at 200°C. The transmittance of imine-bearing ZnO nanoparticle thin films was observed to be ≥94%, which was in close agreement to pure ZnO thin films in the visible region. The bandgap of imine-bearing ZnO nanoparticle thin films (3.04 eV), evaluated from Tauc’s plot, was observed to be lower than that of pure ZnO (3.21 eV), which is attributed to the interaction of the ZnO nanoparticles with the imine receptor.