Synthesis, structural, topographical, optical and luminescence of CeO2/SnO2 2D hexagonal nanostructures

Abstract

Optical properties of 2D nanostructures are widely attracted due to its tremendous applications. In this work, CeO2/SnO2 nanocomposites with 2D hexagonal nanostructures were synthesized by the wet chemical method using mixed solvent water/ethane-1,2-diol. The properties of the CeO2/SnO2 nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Diffuse Reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS) and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The TEM images show that the water/ethane-1,2-diol assisted CeO2/SnO2 nanocomposite exhibit formation of uniformly dispersed 2D hexagonal nanostructure. The powder XRD results confirmed the formation of CeO2/SnO2 nanocomposites, further it shows the water/ethane-1,2-diol assisted nanocomposite exhibit low intensity peak which is due to the small particle size. Roomtemperature photoluminescence (RTPL) emission studies indicate that as obtained CeO2/SnO2 2D hexagonal nanostructure have much stronger emission than water/ethanol assisted CeO2/SnO2 nanocomposites. The band gap energies of the samples prepared for water/ethanol and water/ethane-1,2-diol obtained by the tauc plots of (αhυ)2 versus (hυ) curve are 3.21 and 3.22 eV respectively.