Optical and structural properties of sol-gel derived nanostructured CeO_2 film
Optical and structural properties of Sol-gel derived Nanostructured CeO2 film

Sol-gel derived nanostructured CeO2 film was deposited on glass substrate using the dip-coating technique with annealed at 650oC. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), UV/VIS and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy studies were employed to analyze the structural and optical properties of the sol-gel derived nanostructured CeO2 film. The average crystallite size was estimated from XRD pattern using Scherrer equation as about 3–4 nm. SEM micrograph shows the film have good adherence to the substrate, porous in nature and crack free. The UV-visible absorption spectroscopic measurement results showed that the products had conspicuous quantum size effects. The absorption spectrum indicates that the sol-gel derived nanostructured CeO2 film have a direct bandgap of 3.23 eV and the photoluminescence spectra of the film show strong band at 378 nm may have promising applications as optoelectronic materials.