Publications

Herein, the co-precipitation method is used to synthesize pure and Zn-doped copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles with low concentrations, 0.5, 0.75, 1, and 1.25 at.% capped by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. The influence of Zn doping on the structural, morphological, optical, and magnetic properties is characterized. X-ray powder diffraction patterns confirm the formation of the monoclinic CuO phase without any impurities. In addition, the Zn dopant revealed the formation of mixed morphology welded with some elongated and small agglomerated nanoparticles. Fourier transform infrared spectra affirm the successful formation of the CuO monoclinic structure. The optical properties were examined in ethanol and propanol solvents, which demonstrated a dependence on the excitation, emission, and solvent. Consequently, the crystallite size and energy band gap are both found to decrease for 0.5 at.% Zn dopant and then increase for the highest concentrations. Furthermore, M–H loops reveal the presence of paramagnetic behavior with weak ferromagnetic nature at the low field with Zn doping. Accordingly, the anti-corrosion behavior of the prepared nanoparticles has been studied. They have 83% corrosion inhibition on mild steel in 0.5 M HCl which is confirmed by impedance and polarization studies.