Since ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) possess a variety of intrinsic defects, they can provide a wide spectrum of visible emission, without adding any impurity or any doping atoms. They are attracting more and more interest as a material for light sources and energy downshifting systems. However, defect emission with a high luminescence quantum efficiency (PL QY) is difficult to obtain. Here, we present the co-precipitation synthesis parameters permitting to attain ZnO NPs with highly visible PL QYs. We found that the nature of zinc precursors and alkaline hydroxide (KOH or LiOH) used in this method affects the emission spectra and the PL QY of the as-grown ZnO NPs. LiOH is found to have an advantageous effect on the visible emission efficiency when added during the synthesis of the ZnO NPs. More precisely, LiOH permits to increase the emission efficiency in the visible up to 13%. We discuss the effects of the nanoparticle size, the morphology and the surface stabilization on the enhancement of the luminescent emission efficiency. Various spectral contributions to the luminescent emission were also examined, in order to achieve a control of the defect emission to increase its efficiency.
Keywords: ZnO nanoparticles; co-precipitation; luminescence quantum efficiency.