Synergistic effect of CeO2:La and CeO2:La-Gd nanostructures: Photoluminescence and electrical properties

In this study, the optical and conductivity properties of CeO 2 ceramic oxide were investigated in terms of the contribution and synergistic effect. Undoped CeO 2 , CeO 2 :0.15La, and CeO 2 :0.10La0.05Gd compounds were synthesized via the hydrothermal method. Characterization studies were carried out using XRD, SEM, Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, impedance spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectrophotometry, respectively. It was determined that the synthesized compounds had a cubic crystal lattice structure. Raman spectroscopy was used to evaluate the concentration of oxygen vacancies in the samples. The void concentration in the CeO 2 : 0.10 La 0.05 Gd compound was calculated as 82%. Gd positively affected oxygen vacancy formation. The conductivity of CeO 2 :0.10La0.05Gd at 700 o C was reported as 5.81 ×10 -3 S/cm. The excitation and emission spectra of undoped CeO 2 , CeO 2 :0.15La, and CeO 2 :0.10La0.05Gd host crystals were investigated and compared. The results demonstrated that doping with La 3+ and Gd 3+ ions played an important role in greatly increasing the luminescence of CeO 2 in the orange-red region. It was determined that with the synergistic effect, the Gd ion had increased the luminescence emission by 200-fold and the conductivity by 10-fold. In light of the data obtained (La-Gd), it was observed that it gave excellent results in terms of conductivity and luminescence properties with a synergistic effect.