Morphology-dependent fluorescence of europium-doped cerium oxide nanomaterials. Issue 12 (6th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: D'Achille, Anne E.; Wallace, Robert M.; Coffer, Jeffery L.
• Is Part Of: Nanoscale advances. Volume 3:Issue 12(2021)
• Page Start: 3563
• Page End: 3572
• Publication Date: 2021-05-06
• Subjects: 620.5
• DOI: 10.1039/d1na00096a
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2516-0230

Abstract

Abstract : Eu 3+ -doped CeO2 nanorods, nanowires, nanocubes are utilized to assess the role of defect size/concentration and surface functionalization on Eu 3+ photophysics. Abstract : Europium-doped CeO2 nanomaterials have been investigated for a variety of sensing and biological applications, as doping enhances the catalytic activity of CeO2 and contributes visible fluorescence to the nanomaterial. However, scant evidence is available that directly compares Eu 3+ fluorescence from multiple morphologies establishing useful correlation(s) between physical and optical trends in such structures. To address this shortcoming, Eu 3+ -doped CeO2 nanorods, nanowires, nanocubes, and annealed nanorods were synthesized and characterized, representing a range of crystalline defect sizes, defect concentrations, and surface moieties. Morphologies rich with oxygen defects and hydroxyl groups (assessed via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) quenched the Eu 3+ fluorescence, while samples with larger crystalline domains and lower Ce 3+ concentrations have relatively stronger emission intensities. Of the four morphologies, nanocubes exhibit the strongest emission, as each structure is monocrystalline with few oxygen defects and associated quenching sites. Furthermore, the Eu 3+ hypersensitive transition is more responsive to the dopant concentration in the nanocubes, as defects induced by the dopant are not removed by thermal annealing.