Review of photoluminescence performance of nano-sized semiconductor materials and its relationships with photocatalytic activity

High concentrations of defects are introduced into nanoscale ZnO through non-equilibrium processes and resultant blue emissions are comprehensively analyzed, focusing on defect origins and broad controls. Some ZnO nanoparticles exhibit very strong blue emissions, the intensity of which first increase and then decrease with annealing. These visible emissions exhibit strong and interesting excitation dependences: 1) the optimal excitation energy for blue emissions is near the bandgap energy, but the effective excitation can obviously be lower, even 420 nm (2.95 eV < Eg = 3.26 eV); in contrast, green emissions can be excited only by energies larger than the bandgap energy; and, 2) there are several fixed emitting wavelengths at 415, 440, 455 and 488 nm in the blue wave band, which exhibit considerable stability in different excitation and annealing conditions. Mechanisms for blue emissions from ZnO are proposed with interstitial-zinc-related defect levels as initial states. EPR spectra reveal the predominance of interstitial zinc in as-prepared samples, and the evolutions of coexisting interstitial zinc and oxygen vacancies with annealing. Furthermore, good controllability of visible emissions is achieved, including the co-emission of blue and green emissions and peak adjustment from blue to yellow.

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Blue Luminescence of ZnO Nanoparticles Based on Non‐Equilibrium Processes: Defect Origins and Emission Controls

Second-generation TiO2-xDx photocatalysts doped with either anions (N, C, and S mostly) or cations have recently been shown to have their absorption edge red-shifted to lower energies (longer wavelengths), thus enhancing photonic efficiencies of photoassisted surface redox reactions. Some of the studies have proposed that this red-shift is caused by a narrowing of the band gap of pristine TiO2 (e.g., anatase, Ebg = 3.2 eV; absorption edge ca. 387 nm), while others have suggested the appearance of intragap localized states of the dopants. By contrast, a recent study by Kuznetsov and Serpone (J. Phys. Chem. B, in press) has proposed that the commonality in all these doped titanias rests with formation of oxygen vacancies and the advent of color centers (e.g., F, F+, F++, and Ti3+) that absorb the visible light radiation. This article reexamines the various claims and argues that the red-shift of the absorption edge is in fact due to formation of the color centers, and that while band gap narrowing is not an...

Is the Band Gap of Pristine TiO2 Narrowed by Anion- and Cation-Doping of Titanium Dioxide in Second-Generation Photocatalysts?

Nanostructured oxides in chemistry: characterization and properties.

A high yield of the dimer-type heterostructure of Ag/ZnO nanocrystals with different Ag contents is successfully prepared through a simple solvothermal method in the absence of surfactants. The samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV−vis spectroscopy, and IR spectroscopy. The results show that all samples are composed of metallic Ag and ZnO; Ag nanoparticles locate on the surface of ZnO nanorods; the binding energy of Ag 3d5/2 for the Ag/ZnO sample with a Ag content of 5.0 atom % shifts remarkably to the lower binding energy compared with the corresponding value of pure metallic Ag because of the interaction between Ag and ZnO nanocrystals; the concentration of oxygen vacancy for the as-synthesized samples varies with the increasing Ag content, and the Ag/ZnO sample with a Ag content of 5.0 atom % has the largest density of oxygen vacancy. In addition, the relationship between their structure and photocatalytic property is inve...

Ag/ZnO heterostructure nanocrystals: synthesis, characterization, and photocatalysis.

The surface properties and photocatalytic activities of ZnO ultrafine particles

In this paper, ZnO ultrafine particles (UFPs) were prepared by the thermal decomposition method of the precursor, zinc carbonate hydroxide. The structure and properties of the as-prepared ZnO UFPs were studied using TEM, XRD, BET, SPS, ESR, Raman, XPS and UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy. It was found that the prepared ZnO UFPs exhibited obvious quantum size effect and surface effect. In addition, there were many active species on the surface of ZnO UFPs such as oxygen deficiencies and hydroxyls, both of which can improve the photocatalytic activities of ZnO UFPs.

Xiaojun Sun

Papers

The surface properties and photocatalytic activities of ZnO ultrafine particles

The preparation and characterization of ZnO ultrafine particles