The effect of laser environment on the characteristics of ZnO nanoparticles by laser ablation

In this paper, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were prepared by laser ablation of Zinc (purity of 99/99 %) target. The effect of solvents, methanol and distilled water on the characterization of ZnO has been investigated. The beam of a Q-switched Nd: Yag laser with the length wave of 1064 nm and pulse duration of 6 ns was used. ZnO nanoparticles which were produced in distilled water and methanol were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the optical absorption spectroscopy–ultraviolet (UV–VIS-IR). The XRD results showed that the ZnO nanoparticles have a hexagonal crystal structure. Different size of ZnO nanoparticles were formed because of different environment of laser pulse generated.