Structural and Optical Characteristics of ZnO Nanoparticles-Doped Epoxy Resin Thin Films

Abstract

In this study, pure epoxy resin (ER) was doped with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) at different weight fractions (0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07 and 0.09 wt.%). The chemical cast deposition method was used to make six thin film samples (one pure and five doped). The structural and the linear optical properties of the prepared samples were investigated via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-visible spectroscopy. The absorbance and reflectance have increased with increasing ZnONPs doping weight fraction, while transmittance has decreased and the energy bandgap have decreased from 3.42 to 2.79 eV. An increase in Urbach energy from 0.09 to 0.60 eV was observed with increasing doping weight fraction. Results presented herein revealed that the structural and optical properties of epoxy resin were improved by doping with ZnO nanoparticles.