Abstract
Pure zinc oxide (ZnO) and Sn-doped ZnO hexagonal sheets were synthesized by template free hydrothermal growth mechanism with controlled morphology by using zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)(2)center dot 2H(2)O), tin chloride pentahydrate (SnCl2 center dot 5H(2)O), Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and H2O as precursors. The structural, physical, chemical, and magnetic characteristics were investigated by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and alternating gradient magnetometer (AGM), respectively. The average crystalline size of hexagonal phase of ZnO sheets was calculated to be about 34 nm from XRD patterns. Energy dispersive spectroscopy provided the compositional analysis of pure and Sn-doped ZnO. Room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) was observed by AGM for pure and Sn-doped ZnO hexagonal plates. RTFM increases monotonically for Sn doping and reaches maximum saturation magnetization 0.045 emu/g for 3% Sn-doped ZnO.