Green synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles and their structural investigations with Williamson-Hall and rietveld refinement method

Abstract

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZNPs), which are of great fundamental and technological importance, have been prepared by the green route using the extract of Azadirachta indica (Neem) leaf. The prepared particles were examined mainly for structural properties. The X-ray diffraction data shows that it was crystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite phase. The average crystallite size and some other key physical parameters such as stress, strain and anisotropic energy density were estimated using Williamson-Hall (W-H) analysis as well as Rietveld refinement process. The obtained results showed that the average particle size of the ZNPs estimated from W-H analysis, Rietveld refinement and Scanning electron microscopy were highly inter-correlated.