Effect of Zn doping on structural, optical and thermal properties of CeO2 nanoparticles

• The CeO2:Zn nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical precipitation.
• The influences of particle size on structural parameters were determined by XRD.
• The Zn doping with shifting of the bands were observed by UV–Vis spectroscopy.
• The emission spectra of the CeO2:Zn samples were derived from PL spectroscopy.
• The thermal property of the CeO2:Zn nanoparticles are observed by TG–DTA curve.

The undoped and Zn doped CeO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical precipitation method at room temperature. The undoped and Zn doped CeO2 nanoparticles have been characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet visible and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA). The cubic fluorite structures of the CeO2 nanoparticles were determined by XRD. The influence of particle size on structural parameters such as lattice parameter (a), inter planar distance (d), dislocation density (δ), microstrain (ε), lattice strain (η) and texture co-efficient (TC) were also determined. The lattice strains were determined by Williamson–Hall plot method. The effect of Zn doping with shifting of the bands were observed by UV–Vis spectroscopy and also their optical band gap were determined. The emission spectra and energy band diagram of the undoped and Zn doped samples were derived from PL spectroscopy. The structural bond vibrations of undoped and Zn doped CeO2 nanoparticles were analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy. The thermal property (weight loss and decomposition) of the sample is observed by TG–DTA curve.