Optical characterization of Eu3+ doped ZnO nanocomposites

A rare-earth metal ion (Eu3+) doped ZnO nanocomposites have been successfully synthesized by employing wet chemical procedure using multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT's) as removable template. The preparation was carried out by immersing empty and dried MWCNT's in a stoichiometric composition of zinc nitrate and europium nitrate solution followed by filtration and sintering. The synthesized Eu3+ doped ZnO nanocomposites were characterized by means of different characterization techniques namely XRD, SEM, EDS, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. The XRD profile of the Eu3+ doped ZnO nanocomposites indicated its hexagonal nature while the photoluminescent analysis reveals that the prepared nanocomposite exhibits a strong red emission peak at 619 nm due to 5D0 --> 7F2 forced electric dipole transition of Eu3+ ions. Such luminescent materials are expected to find potential applications in display devices.