Synthesis, Morphology, Optical and Electrical Properties of Cu(1−x) Fe(x) O Nanopowder

The pure and Fe-doped CuO nanoparticles of the series Cu(1−x) Fe(x)O (x = 0, 0.027, 0.055, 0.097 and 0.125) were synthesized by a simple low temperature sol–gel method. Synthesized samples were characterized by a series of techniques including Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray electron spectroscopy (EDX), Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Hall Effect Set-up and Current–Voltage (I–V) characteristics. FESEM analysis shows formation of disc type structure increasing in grain size with Fe concentration in CuO. EDX confirmed the incorporation of iron in CuO. FTIR results of pure and Fe doped CuO samples have confirmed the formation of monoclinic CuO. The optical band gap estimated using Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) shows the increment in the band gap values with Fe substitution. The Hall measurements show predominantly p-type conduction in all the samples and carrier densities decrease with increased Fe substitution. I–V characteristics of pure and Fe doped CuO nanoparticles show rectification behaviour of Schottky diodes.