Morphological, Elemental and Optical, Properties of Sphalerite Nanoparticle (ZnS) Doped with Neem Leaf Extract
Chiamaka Peace Onu *
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Azubuike Josiah Ekpunobi
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Adaora Lynda Ozobialu
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Chiedozie Emmanuel Okafor
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Diemiruaye Mimi Jeroh
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Chukwudi Benjamin Muomeliri
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Okechukwu Emmanuel Odikpo
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Augustine Chukwuemeka Azubogu
Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Evangeline Njideka Onuigbo
Department of Geological Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Overcomer Ifeanyi Anusiuba
Department of Computer Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Adline Nwodo
Magnetism and Magnetoscience Laboratory, Kagostina University, Japan.
Nonso Livinus Okoli
Nanoscience and Advance Materials, Federal University of ABC, Santo Andre, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Uche Eunice Ekpunobi
Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study investigated the properties of undoped Sphalerite nanoparticles and Neem leaf extract doped Sphalerite nanoparticles. The Sphalerite nanoparticle were prepared by ball milling technique and was doped with the Neem leaf extract using Doctors Blades method. The Morphological, elemental and optical properties of the nanoparticles were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersed X-ray analysis (EDX), and UV spectrophotometer respectively. The SEM micrograph revealed significant change in the morphological structure of the Sphalerite nanaoparticle from being coarse, densely packed, well-formed flakes with uneven edged crystalline-structured to coarse, dispersed, grain-like crystalline structure after doping with Neem leaf extract. The EDX confirmed the presence of zinc, sulphide, calcium, phosphorous, iron, chromium, and selenium and trace of other elements. UV-Vis spectroscopy showed that the transmittance of both the doped and undoped Sphalerite increased as the spectrum wavelength moved from ultraviolet region to visible region at 94% and 88% respectively at the near-infrared region. The photon energy with respect to refractive index of both doped and the undoped Sphalerite was found to be 1.66eV – 2.64eV and 1.38eV to 2.45eV respectively which revealed that the doped Sphalerite nanoparticle is beneficial for higher non linear optical response for optoelectronic devices. The Bang gap of the doped Sphalerite nanoparticles was 2.52eV which is significantly better than 3.63eV obtained in undoped Sphalerite. This suggested that the Neem leaf extract introduced necessary impurities which enhanced the optoelectronic properties of the Sphalerite nanoparticles. Hence, Neem leaf-doped Sphalerite nanoparticles can be a potential enhanced material for optoelectronic devices with excellent performance in photovoltaic applications.
Keywords: Sphalerite nanoparticles, neem leaf extract, scanning electron microscopy, properties