Morphological, Structural, Substructural Characteristics and Chemical Composition of ZnO Nanocrystals Doped with Aluminum

In the work were synthesized nanoparticles of ZnO doped with Al (0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 5.0, 7.0 and 10.0 wt.%) using the polyol process, as well as their morphological, structural, substructural characteristics, and chemical composition were studied. It was found that up to the concentration of 3 wt.% Al, ZnO nanoparticles have a single-phase structure and contain only hexagonal zinc oxide, with a subsequent increase in the aluminum content, the $A1_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$ phase appears. It is shown that with increasing concentration of aluminum in the precursor, its amount in nanoparticles increases almost linearly. The study of the chemical composition confirms the incorporation of Al into the crystal lattice of the samples and its uniform distribution. Synthesized ZnO nanocrystals with controlled Al content can be used to create nano inks for printing active elements of flexible electronics, optoelectronics, sensor technology, conductive current-collecting layers of third-generation solar cells and the like.