Surface and optical properties of undoped and Cu doped ZnO nanostructures

This paper reports on surface and optical properties of undoped and Cu doped ZnO nanostructures prepared by the microwave assisted method. The prepared undoped and Cu doped ZnO nanostructures are characterized by SEM, EDAX, FTIR, UV–vis and XRD analysis. Nanoneedle shape and nanoflower shape nanostructures are observed in SEM analysis. EDAX analysis confirms the purity of the nanostructures. The presences of various chemical functional groups are confirmed by FTIR analysis. The optical properties of undoped and Cu doped ZnO nanostructures are analyzed by UV–vis analysis. The average particle size for undoped ZnO is estimated as 15 nm using the Scherrer formula by XRD analysis.