Optical, morphological and structural characteristics of zinc oxide nanoparticles fabricated by laser ablation in deionized water

The fabrication of nanomaterials under pulsed laser removal treatments is an efficient approach that could help pave the way for achieving tunable properties. Here, a pulsed laser ablation (Nd:YAG laser, 1064 nm) in deionized water is employed to prepare zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) by targeting a zinc metal coin. Optical, morphological, and structural characteristics are studied by observing the impact of laser energy and the number of pulses on the resulting NPs in the solution at two different states. At the first state, different numbers of pulses (200, 400, and 600) are applied at a constant laser energy of 120 mJ. At the second state, the laser energy is changed between 140 and 180 mJ at a constant number (200) of pulses. UV–visible spectroscopy shows the maximum absorbance of NPs in the UV area at the wavelength of 328 nm and laser energy of 140 mJ. Based on atomic force microscopy results, a direct correlation is established between the laser energy and the average root mean square of surface of NPs, indicating that the enhanced laser energy induces an increase in the average roughness. A direct correlation is also found between the number of pulses and the intensity of X-ray diffraction patterns. The grain size of the ZnO NPs decreases when reducing the laser energy. Moreover, increasing the number of pulses causes the concentration of the NPs to be increased in the solution.