RETRACTED ARTICLE: Cu dopedZrO2 nanoparticles: an optically tuned material with superiorstructural, electrical and dielectric characteristics

• Published in: Optical and quantum electronics 2024-01, Vol.56 (3)
• Main Authors: Kumar, Danish, Kant, Ravi, Bhardwaj Abhishek, Sharma, Vimal, Sharma, Kuldeep Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Copper; Dielectric loss; Dielectric properties; Doping; Doppler effect; Electromagnetic absorption; Energy gap; Frequency ranges; Nanoparticles; Optoelectronics; Permittivity; Quantum confinement; Red shift; Size distribution; Zirconium dioxide
• ISSN: 0306-8919; 1572-817X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11082-023-06092-x

A chemical co-precipitation method was used to prepare pure and Cu-doped ZrO2 nanoparticles at different doping concentrations (1, 3 and 5 molar %). A comprehensive study of structural and spectroscopic examination confirmed the monoclinic phase with some peaks corresponds to tetragonal phase. No other impurity phase was detected after incorporation of Cu in ZrO2 lattice. FESEM analysis revealed the fine morphology with narrow size distribution with their elemental compositions. Spherical nanoparticles can be clearly seen in pure ZrO2 sample while 1% Cu-doped sample displayed few needle like structure along with NPs and large number of needles can be seen in 5% Cu-doped sample. UV Vis spectroscopy exposed that Cu–ZrO2 NPs exhibit improved light absorption ability and modified bandgap due to the combined effect of interstitial sites and quantum confinement. A red shift in the band absorption edge i.e. from 251 to 260 nm was observed and the bandgap was found to be deceasing from 4.8 to 4.55 eV in ZrO2 samples with Cu content which validate the presence of defects and oxygen vacancies. Dielectric characteristics i.e., dielectric constant (ε') and dielectric loss (tan δ), and ac conductivity were measured at in wide frequency range from 1000 Hz to 15 MHz. Thus, it was exposed that the doping of Cu in ZrO2 leads to attain a tuned bandgap with high dielectric constant and low loss, which encourages the use for optoelectronic applications.