Hydrothermal synthesis and photoluminescence properties of BaZr1−xTixO3 hollow nanospheres

► Ti-doped BaZrO3 hollow nanospheres are simply synthesized by the hydrothermal method with the Ti dopant content up to 20 mol%. ► The doped hollow nanospheres are 140 nm in the average size. ► Blue light emissions occur when the Ti-doped BaZrO3 hollow nanospheres are exposed to 403 nm laser. ► The light emission stems from the oxygen vacancies. Ti doping decreases the oxygen vacancies to adjust the PL intensities. ► FTIR confirms the decreased oxygen vacancies that are induced by Ti doping.