Iron-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles have been synthesized sonochemically from aqueous acetyl acetonate precursors of different proportions. Synthesized nanoparticles were characterized with UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and microscopy. Influences of precursor mixture on the characteristics have been examined and modeled. Linear correlations have been proposed between dopant dosing, extent of doping and band gap energy. Experimental data corroborated with the proposed models. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.