The Morphological Characterization of Mechanically Activated ZnO Powder

Abstract

The authors investigated the morphological characteristics of mechanically activated ZnO powder. ZnO powder was mechanically activated for 2, 5, 10 and 30 minutes in a planetary ball mill. Mechanical activation introduces lattice disorder and defects into ZnO hexagonal wurtzite structure. In order to determine specific surface area and pore volume, we performed N2 porosimetry and SEM in order to investigate the microstructure of non-activated and mechanically activated ZnO powders. Using Kubelka-Munk function, UV-Vis spectra showed the reducing in band gap with activation time. ZnO powder activated for 5 minutes has the narrowest band gap.