Facile one pot synthesis of novel Hg2+ doped PbI2 nanostructures for optoelectronic and radiation shielding applications

Facile one pot synthesis of pure and Hg2+ (= 0.101 nm) doped PbI2 (Pb2+ = 0.133 nm) single crystalline nanoplates (NPs), nanosheets (NSs) and nanorods (NRs) were achieved through chemical route at room temperature. The single phase and high quality of the synthesized NPs, NSs and NRs was proved by X-ray diffraction and FT-Raman spectroscopic analyses. The lattice constants, crystallite size, lattice strain, dislocation density were calculated. The crystallite size was calculated to be in the range of 16-22 nm. The Hg doping in PbI2 was approved by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) and its homogeneous distribution was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) mapping. The morphology of pure and doped synthesized nanostructures was observed to be single crystalline NPs, NSs and NRs of nanoscale thicknesses. The optical band gap was calculated from Tauc's plot and found to be in the range of 3.27-3.20 eV. The value of dielectric constant was improved from 20 to 25 and also ac electrical conductivity due to Hg2+ doping. The radiation parameters such as linear absorption coefficient, half value layer, tenth value layer and mean free path were calculated and a remarkable enhancement was observed due to Hg2+ doping. These parameters confirm that the nanostructures are highly sensitive to Am-214 59.5KeV gamma-ray. The facilely synthesized nanostructures of PbI2 with enhanced properties due to Hg2+ doping makes them more suitable for nanoelectronics and room temperature radiation detector applications.