Effect of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) on structural, thermal and photoluminescence properties of CdO nanoparticles for optoelectronic applications

Abstract

Current study deals with capped/uncapped Cadmium Oxide Nanoparticles (CdO NPs) synthesized by chemical precipitation technique. Structural, morphological, thermal and optical properties of these samples were investigated by XRD, TGA, TEM and PL spectra. XRD revealed the face centered cubic structure of CdO which was depicted at 400 °C for both samples. The calculated XRD values were in good consistent with the predicted values of TEM analysis and also with Thermogravimetric analysis. Intense emission peaks at 474 nm and 615 nm were observed in PL spectra at 325 nm excitation wavelengths in uncapped CdO NPs, while capped CdO NPs showed peaks with less intensity. These emissions may be due to the indirect near band gap emission and excitonic transition of CdO NPs. Hence based on these results it could be concluded that capping agent (PEG) tuned CdO NPs can be used for optoelectronic device applications.