The impact of nickel doping on the structural, morphological, optical and magnetic characteristics of zinc oxide nanorods

Abstract One-dimensional (1D) Ni-doped ZnO nanorods have been synthesised using two techniques: non-vacuum spray pyrolysis and sol-gel immersion. The work investigated the influence of Ni dopant on the structural, morphological, optical, and magnetic characteristics of undoped and Ni-doped ZnO nanorods by numerous analytical techniques including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis spectrometer, and vibrating sample magnetometer. The Ni-doped material displays enhanced structural characteristics, such as vertically orientated nanorods with a high aspect ratio of 31.2 and a nanorod diameter of 248.47 nm. The incorporation of Ni dopant caused a modification, leading to a reduction in the energy gap of zinc oxide nanorods from 3.272 eV to 3.264 eV. This modification enhanced the optical characteristics of the nanorods in the photoanode semiconductor. After incorporating Ni into ZnO nanorods, the magnetic coercivity was reduced to 46.70 Oe and the saturation moments were increased to 5.114 emu. The incorporation of Ni material into ZnO nanorods has a substantial impact on their structural, morphological, optical, and magnetic characteristics.