Study of Cadmium-Doped Zinc Oxide Nanocrystals with Composition and Size Dependent Band Gaps

Cadmium-doped zinc oxide nanocrystals in the quantum confinement region have been firstly synthesized by a fast and facile sonochemical method.The alloyed structure of the nanocrystals is confirmed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and infrared analysis.With the increase of cadmium to zinc molar ratio from 0 to 2.0, the crystallite sizes of the samples decrease from 5.1 nm to 2.6 nm, and the band gaps of the samples show a red shift then a blue shift, and a red shift again.The variations of band gaps of the samples can be interpreted by the crystallite size and the composition.It is found that both the non-thermal equilibrium environment established in the sonochemical reaction and the coordination ability of triethylene glycol solvent play crucial roles in the current preparation.