Photoluminescence behavior of TiO2 nanoparticles doped with liquid crystals

• Well crystalline uniform TiO2 nanoparticles have been prepared by simply hydrothermal method.
• Photoluminescence property of TiO2 NPs has been modified by doping with liquid crystals.
• The PL intensity and FWHM of the PL emission band of TiO2 NPs have been enhanced in presence of liquid crystalline materials.
• The PL emission band TiO2 NPs has been red shifted.

Well crystalline TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) have been prepared by simply hydrothermal method and their photoluminescence (PL) behavior in presence liquid crystalline materials have been investigated. It is observed that the PL emission intensity in TiO2 NPs doped with liquid crystals (LC) enhances and the enhancement in PL intensity strongly depends on concentration of LC. The PL emission energy band of TiO2 NPs doped with LC is red shifted. The PL emission peak is shifted towards longer wavelength by 4.7 nm due to presence of LC. It is also observed that the photoluminescence emission band width of TiO2 NPs increases in presence LC molecules. Our observation may be useful to fabricate smart optoelectronics devices like solid state lighting.