ZnO,
being an inexpensive, wide band gap semiconductor that possesses
high mechanical, thermal, and chemical stabilities and suitable for
a wide range of optical and electronic applications, is the preferred
semiconductor of this era. In an effort to fully utilize its potential
features, ZnO research is receiving increasing attention. This study
investigates the influence of pressure on the crystallinity, defect
density, size, and morphology of ZnO nanoparticles, synthesized using
nonaqueous sol–gel method, and their respective impact on the
optical properties. High-crystalline ZnO nanocrystals with a hexagonal
wurtzite structure were synthesized at various pressures, including
ambient pressure, 25, 37.5, 50, and 100 bars inside a high-pressure
reactor. With the increase in pressure, a reduction in particle size
was observed, reaching a minimum size (∼10 nm) at 50 bar pressure
(ZnO-50). Further increase in pressure causes an enhancement in the
particle size. This trend of size variation with pressure is attributed
to a tradeoff between esterification and nucleation processes. Contrary
to the expectation, smaller ZnO nanocrystals synthesized by the present
method possess lesser number of defects, suggesting that high-pressure
synthesis is a unique way that offers smaller ZnO nanocrystals of
sub-10 nm sizes having high crystallinity and lesser defects in a
shorter time span. Also, the optical transmittance of the systems
could be greatly enhanced by carefully tuning the particle sizes,
with ZnO-50 (∼10 nm particle size) having the highest transmittance
(∼95% at 600 nm) among all samples. High crystallinity, uniform
morphology, excellent visible transparency, wide band gap, and low
defect density make these smaller ZnO nanocrystals a preferred choice
for ultraviolet sensors and other optoelectronic devices.