Hydrogen storage and PL properties of novel Cd/CdO shelled hollow microspheres prepared under NH3 gas environment

Here we report the first ever fabrication of metal/semiconductor Cd/CdO shelled hollow microspheres with average diameter of 20–30 μm via heating cadmium metal powder inside horizontal tube furnace at 500 °C for 40 min under ammonia gas flow of 150 sccm. Vapor-solid (VS) based growth mechanism was proposed for the formation of Cd/CdO shelled hollow microspheres (CCOSHMs). The as-prepared product was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) studies exhibited a UV emission band at 395 nm (E = 3.13 eV) which may be ascribed to combined effect of near band edge emission of CdO and Cd related radiative recombination of electrons in s, p conduction band near Fermi surface and the holes in the d bands generated by Xe light excitation. The hydrogen absorption properties of CCOSHMs were investigated at three different temperatures 373, 473, and 573 K. The maximum hydrogen absorption of 1.30 wt% was observed at 573 K which is better than many other materials. This indicates the potential of Cd/CdO shelled hollow microspheres for applications in light emitting devices as well as an interesting material for hydrogen storage research.

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► Cd/CdO shelled hollow microspheres (CCOSHMs) are prepared first ever time.
► Hydrogen absorption of 1.30 wt% was observed at 573 K for CCOSHMs.
►  Vapor solid process mechanism based growth model governs the formation of CCOSHMs.
►  Room temperature PL spectrum of CCOSHMs exhibited a near-violet emission band at 395 nm.