Effect of Ni substitution on structural, morphological and magnetic properties of Zn1-xNixO nanorods

We report the preparation of Zn1-5NixO nanorods through a chemical route using microwave irradiation. The obtained Zn1-xNixO nanorods were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy and magnetization measurements. XRD and TEM results showed that the Zn1-xNixO nanorods have single phase nature with wurtzite structure and Ni was successfully incorporated at Zn site into the ZnO. The shape of the nanorods changed from hexagon (length similar to 1.5 mu m, diameter similar to 200 nm) to pencil like tip (length similar to 1 mu m, diameter similar to 80 nm) by only changing the Ni content from 1% to 3% in ZnO. Concerning the Raman scattering spectra, the modification in the intensity of E-2(high) mode and sub-band edge emissions provides enough evidence for the existence of intrinsic defects associated with the 0 atoms. Magnetic measurement results revealed that Zn1-xNixO nanorods show the well-defined ferromagnetic features at room temperature and the value of M-s increased with the increase of Ni concentration. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.