Exploring the structural and optical properties of Cu_1−xNi_xO/ZnO nanostructured heterojunctions for optoelectronic studies

The current work aims to explore the structural and optical properties of Cu_1−xNi_xO/ZnO nanostructured heterojunctions for optoelectronic applications. ZnO nanostructures and different Cu_1−xNi_xO/ZnO (x; 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) nanostructured heterojunctions were prepared by spray pyrolysis procedure on glass substrates. The surfaces morphology of the samples was examined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) microscope was utilized to examine the elemental analysis. The XRD measurements show that ZnO nanostructures possess a hexagonal wurtzite structure, while Cu_1−xNi_xO nanostructures possess monoclinic structures. The FT-IR spectroscopy was performed to explore the chemical bondings and functional groups. The UV–visible-NIR spectrophotometer was used to investigate the optical properties. The optical constants (refractive index, extinction coefficient, dielectric constants, optical conductivity) of the prepared samples have been investigated. The first-order linear optical susceptibility, third-order optical susceptibility and nonlinear refractive index are also studied. The obtained results show that the optical parameters of Cu_1−xNi_xO/ZnO heterojunction could be tuned through controlling the Ni content. These novel findings nominate Cu_1−xNi_xO/ZnO nanostructured heterojunctions for a plenty of optical, photocatalytic and optoelectronic applications.