UV Modulated Photoluminescence of Ce Doped ZnO Nanoparticles for Photocatalytic and White Light Emitting Diode Applications

This work investigates the effect of Ce doping in ZnO by sol–gel combustion method on its photocatalytic activity and optoelectronic application. XRD, TEM analysis confirmed the wurtzite hexagonal structure of ZnO. EDX analysis depicted the presence of Ce in addition to Zn and O. UV–Vis studies revealed a decrement in energy band gap on introduction of Ce. PL data analysis showed the existence of various defects which upgrades enhancement of visible emission via activation through diverse wavelengths. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized nanoparticles was studied by evaluating the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under solar and methyl orange (MO) under xenon light irradiation. Zn_0.99Ce_0.01O showed an efficiency of 96.9% under solar irradiation compared to 41.5% using a light source for the same duration of exposure. Hence sunlight could be considered as the best light source for the elimination of dyes from the water sources in the environment. Moreover, the CIE coordinates of Zn_0.97Ce_0.03O were obtained to be (0.36, 0.38) with CCT of 4574 K at 325 nm which shows warm white light validating its application in household optoelectronic devices.