A study of optical, surface morphological and electrical properties of manganese oxide nanoparticles

The paper presents a report on the synthesis and characterization based on structural, morphological, optical and electrical studies of manganese oxide (MnO) nanoparticles. Chemical precipitation method was used for the synthesis of MnO nanoparticles. Phase formation of the prepared sample was analyzed with powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) studies, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The PXRD results confirmed partial crystallinity having cubic phase and the crystallite size of the MnO was determined by using Debye–Scherrer’s formula and it was found to be 14 nm. SEM images showed the formation of nearly spherical and agglomerated particles. Grain size was found to be 12 nm determined by SEM. The TEM analysis helped to measure the size of the particle formed which was ~12 nm. Optical energy band gap about 3.9 eV was calculated using UV–Vis spectroscopy. The photoluminescence spectrum emission peak located at 375 nm was found to be broad and symmetric. At different frequencies and temperatures the dielectric properties of the MnO nanoparticles such as the dielectric constant, the dielectric loss, and AC conductivity were studied. Further, the present study brought in its scope the study of electronic properties, such as valence electron plasma energy, average energy gap or Penn gap, Fermi energy and electronic polarizability of the MnO nanoparticles. With the help of these parameters the electrical properties of MnO nanoparticles could be analyzed.