STRUCTURAL, MORPHOLOGICAL, AND PHOTOLUMINESCENCE PROPERTIES OF TiO2-DOPED CdO NANOCOMPOSITES PREPARED BY A SIMPLE SOLUTION METHOD

Pure CdO and TiO2-doped CdO nanocomposites with different wt.% ratios (0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 wt.%) were prepared by a simple solution method. Structural, morphological, and elemental composition of the prepared samples was undertaken by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and photoluminescence. The diffraction peaks of the samples showed the cubic phase structure and the prepared nanocomposites were on the nanoscale. SEM revealed the plate-like chunks with irregular grains due to agglomeration. The particle size of the pure CdO sample was found to be 61.98 nm, whereas TiO2-doped CdO (0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 wt.%) exhibited 49.57, 35.41, and 31 nm. The first peak was observed at 1.90 eV in the IR-visible region and the second peak at 2.38 eV. Both the peaks correspond to CdO. Near-band-edge emission of 2.38 eV is typical for both pure and doped CdO. It can be suggested that the photo-generated electrons have been trapped in to Ti4+ in the forbidden gap, which enhanced the deep level emission.