Modification of optical emission in electrospun PVA nanofibers: effect of cerium oxalate crystals doped with neodymium and praseodymium

Abstract

ABSTRACT Development of functional nanofibers from transparent polymer systems attracted attention of researchers recently. Doping of functional nanoparticles in a suitable polymer matrix in the nanofiber forms enables them as active materials for photonic, electronic and for energy generation applications. Cerium oxalate crystals in its pure and rare earth-doped form are found to be a potential system for such investigations. Cerium oxalate crystals and its praseodymium (Pr3+)- and neodymium (Nd3+)-doped forms were synthesized by single diffusion gel growth method. These crystals, in the powder form, were incorporated in PVA matrix to form nanofibers (NFs) by electrospinning technique. Morphological studies were done by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). From the X-ray powder diffraction analysis, monoclinic structure of Ce2(C2O4)3 was confirmed. The notable changes observed in the FTIR spectra revealed interactions between the cerium ions and polymer PVA. The optical absorption characteristics of pure and doped PVA NFs were done by UV–Visible absorption spectroscopy. The photoluminescence spectrum of the rare earth-doped cerium oxalate-PVA NFs showed that the fiber had strong emission in the blue-green region.