Effect of oxygen vacancies on enhancing the photo-catalytic activity, photo-luminescence and electronic structure properties of nanostructured Y-doped CeO2

The exceptional characteristics of CeO₂ and Ce_1-xY_xO₂ (x = 0.03, 0.05 and 0.07) nanoparticles were reported in the manuscript supporting that Y³⁺replaces Ce³⁺/Ce⁴⁺leads to oxygen vacancies formation. The results of XRD measurements revealed FCC structure of decreased crystallite size of CeO₂ with improved crystallinity. To investigate the surface morphology, HRTEM and SAED patterns were performed. EDX analyses were undertaken to discuss the elemental and compositional characteristics. The absorption spectra using UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy were analyzed and red shifted absorbance was found to enhance with decreasing band gap values for increased Y doping. The Photoluminescence spectra depicted various emissions representing the development of various defects and oxygen vacancy with incorporation of Y content in the lattice with CCT values below 4000 K to be classified as warm yellow light for indoor applications. The development of oxygen vacancies in the CeO₂ lattice was further supported by XPS measurements for core levels Ce 3d, O 1s and Y 3d. Furthermore, the XPS measurements also reported the valence states of elements, Ce with 3+ and 4+, Y with 3+ and O with 2- along with charged oxygen vacancies. The photo-catalytic analysis revealed that Y-doped CeO₂ nanoparticles show better degradation using a variety of characterization. A degradation mechanism that illustrates the impact of oxygen vacancies created by Y-doping on the photo-degradation process has been proposed. The novelty of Y-doped CeO₂ nanoparticles stems from their improved photo-catalytic activities, which are linked to structural changes and the formation of oxygen vacancies. This doping considerably affects the electrical structure, resulting in better light absorption and less electron-hole recombination. The detailed outcomes of present study suggested the use of Y-doped CeO₂ nanoparticles in optoelectronics, spintronics devices and photo-catalyst applications.