Effect of Ni substitution on the structural and optical properties of SrZr1-xNixO3 (0.05≤x≤0.20) perovskites

Ni2+ substituted SrZr1-xNixO3 (x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) perovskites are synthesized by the solid-state reaction method. Their structural, morphological and optical properties are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with attached energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), UV-Visible (UV-Vis) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The XRD patterns of all the samples show the formation of a single phase, i.e. orthorhombic phase, which is further confirmed by Rietveld refinement. Structural ordering increases with an increase in the concentration of Ni2+ substitution with an increase in the mean crystallite size. The optical band gap of all the samples is in the insulating range, i.e., around 5 eV. The intensity of the PL spectra decreases with substitution concentration due to the quenching effect. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.