Affiliations: [a] Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
| [b] Programme of Occupational Health and Safety, Atasehir Adiguzel Vocational School of Higher Education, Turkey
| [c] Department of Physics, Faculty of Arts and Science, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
| [d] Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Nurcan Tugrul, Yildiz Technical University, Davutpasa Campus, Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Davutpasa Street, no.127, 34210 Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey. Tel.: +90 212 3834771; Fax: +90 212 3834725; E-mail: ntugrul@yildiz.edu.tr.
Abstract: In this study, several dehydrated zinc borates are synthesised from ZnO and H3BO3 via the solid-state method. Five different ZnO:H3BO3 mole ratios (1:2–1:6) are prepared and used in the experiments. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy techniques are used to characterize the products. Furthermore, scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used to investigate the surface morphologies. Additionally, the electrical resistivity and optical energy gaps of the dehydrated zinc borate samples synthesised at reaction temperatures were determined using the current/voltage characteristics and Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) absorption measurements. Based on the experimental results, major phases of ZnB4O7 and Zn4O(B6O12) compounds were synthesised at 800°C after a reaction time of 240 min and at 900°C at all reaction temperatures between 60 and 240 min. The dehydrated zinc borate particle sizes were found to be 395.53 nm–2.36 μm. The electrical bulk resistivity was determined to be 107–108 Ω.m, and the optical energy band gaps were determined to be approximately 3.26 eV and 2.21 eV.
