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

Sol-gel derived nanostructured CeO2 film was deposited on glass substrate using by dip-coating technique with annealing at 650 degrees C. 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 the XRD pattern using by Scherrer equation as about 3-4 nm. An SEM micrograph shows that the film was 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 has a direct bandgap of 3.23 eV and the photoluminescence spectra of the film show a strong band at 378 nm: it may have a promising application as an optoelectronic material.