Structure and optical property of composites based on ternary Zn1−xCdxO nanoparticles dispersed in octosilicate

• Composites based on ternary Zn1−xCdxO dispersed in octosilicate were synthesized.
• The optical property of Zn1−xCdxO can be modified by disordered stacking of octosilicate.
• The sizes of ternary Zn1−xCdxO dispersed in octosilicate are about 5–10 nm.

Composites based on ternary Zn1−xCdxO nanoparticles dispersed in octosilicate were obtained by ion exchange followed by thermal treatment. Compositional analyses revealed the host octosilicate containing ternary Zn1−xCdxO nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show no reflections in the XRD patterns of all the composites, indicating a disordered structure of the composite. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) diffuse reflection spectra suggested that the band edges of the composites shifted to low energy with increasing amount of Cd present in the composites. The photoluminescent (PL) spectra showed that only a strong peak at 412 nm appeared in all the composites, which was very different from that of the similar compositional Zn1−xCdxO without octosilicate. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation confirmed that the ordered stack of layered octosilicate became disordered, and the sizes of Zn1−xCdxO nanoparticles dispersed in disordered silicate were about 5–10 nm. These results revealed that the optical property of Zn1−xCdxO can be modified by disordered octosilicate.

Composites based on ternary Zn1−xCdxO nanoparticles dispersed in octosilicate were obtained by ion exchange and following thermal treatment. It was found that the optical property of Zn1−xCdxO changed obviously after it was introduced to host layered silicate. TEM confirmed that the sizes of Zn1−xCdxO dispersed in host silicate are estimated to be 5–10 nm.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide