Magnetic and optical properties as well as EPR studies of polycrystalline ZnO synthesized from different precursors

Abstract Samples of nanostructured zinc oxide with wurtzite structure and different morphologies of aggregates have been synthesized using oxalate ZnC2O4 ∙ 2H2O, glycerolate Zn(OCH2OCHCH2OH), formate Zn(HCOO)2 ∙ 2H2O, glycolate Zn(OCH2CH2O), formate glycolate Zn(HCOO)(OCH2CH2O)1/2, acetate Zn(CH3COO)2 ∙ 2H2O, succinate Zn(OO(CH2)2OO) and hydroxide Zn(OH)2 as precursors. The optical absorption and the EPR spectra were measured at room temperature, whereas the magnetic properties were assessed in the temperature range from 5 to 330 K. All synthesized samples exhibit ferromagnetic properties both at 5 K and at room temperature.