Synthesis and Optical Characterization of Mg1-xNixO Nanostructures

摘要

An attempt has been made here to synthesizeMg1-xNixO (0.01≤x≤0.10)nano-powders via sol-gel process. These powders are shown to possess an f.c.c. (NaCl-type) structure with a typical lattice parameter of4.228(2) Å for“x”=0.01when decomposition of dried oxalate gel product is carried out at 600°C for 2 h in air. Moreover, they exhibit (i) clusters/agglomerates of nanosize particles and (ii) high BET specific surface area (123.0–135.5 m2/g). Also, the infrared absorption spectra reveal their strong affinity to water. The UV-Vis absorption peaks appearing at ~202 nm, 296 nm, and 379 nm are associated with oxygen defect centres and correspond to the electronic transitions (i)A11g→T11u(1s→2px,2py, or2pz), (ii)A11g→E1(1s→2px, or2py) and (iii)A11g→A11g(1s→2pz), respectively. The incorporation of Ni2+ions causes some modifications in the energy levels and the optical absorbance characteristics. The suppression of a strong broad emission peak at 440 nm and improvement of a weak band at~400 nm in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum arise due to decrease in population density ofF22+centres (or F+dimmers) and emergence of additional F+centres, respectively with increase in nickel content.