Effects of Cd concentration on structure and optical properties of the ternary Zn1−xCdxO nanopowder prepared by sol–gel method.

Zn 1− x Cd x O nanocrystalline powder with different Cd contents (0≤ x ≤1) has been prepared by new facile sol–gel route. The crystal structure and optical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction patterns, Transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Photoluminescence. As x varied from x =0 to 0.25, the Zn 1− x Cd x O nanopowder exhibits a hexagonal wurtzite structure of pure ZnO without any significant formation of a separated CdO phase. For the samples with 0.5≤ x ≤0.85, the Zn 1− x Cd x O nanopowder exhibits the coexistence of hexagonal ZnO and cubic CdO phase, meanwhile, the content of ZnO phase decreases while that of CdO increases with increasing the Cd content x . The ultra-violet near-band-edge emission of the Zn 1− x Cd x O nanopowder was monotonously red-shifted from 389 nm ( x =0) to 406 nm ( x =0.25) due to the direct modulation of band gap caused by Cd substitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]