Structural and luminescent features of cerium doped CaZrO3 blue nanophosphors

Ce activated CaZrO3 nanophosphors were prepared at different concentrations (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 wt %) through sol-gel method utilizing polyvinyl alcohol as a chelating agent. The as-obtained samples were investigated using the characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM-EDAX), transmission electron microscope (TEM), photoluminescence (PL), Raman, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy respectively. The crystallite sizes were calculated by XRD patterns. Agglomeration nature of the samples were observed from FESEM images of samples. The energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) measurements affirm the existence of Ca, Zr, O and Ce elements in the samples. From TEM images, the average particle sizes of the samples were calculated and compared with obtained XRD values. The samples' energy gap was derived from UV-Vis spectra. When the samples were excited with 250 nm, three emission peaks at 400 nm, 423 nm and 466 nm were obtained. From CIE diagram, the corresponding CIE co-ordinates were calculated and found to be located in blue region.