Influence of La doping on structural, morphological and optical characteristics of eco friendly yellow inorganic pigment Bi4Zr3O12
摘要
The development of yellow colored inorganic pigments with low toxicity and unique electronic and optical properties has motivated the scientific community to replace the toxic pigments for their use in optical communication, light emissive devices, and tunable laser technology. Hence, in this study, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, field emission - scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance studies are conducted on the two batches of La-doped Bi4Zr3O12 yellow pigment, Bi4Zr3 − xLaxO12 (x = 0.15, 0.30, 0.45, 0.60, and 0.75), synthesized at different temperatures, 300 °C and 500 °C. The X-ray diffraction results indicate the cubic phase of these nano-sized pigments at room temperature. FTIR spectroscopy was conducted to identify the functional groups associated with the oxide network in Bi4Zr3 − xLaxO12 pigments. The nanometer size and micro-flower like morphology of the grains and proper stoichiometric compositions of these pigments were examined by FE-SEM combined with the EDS. The XPS analysis together with the diffuse reflectance characteristics suggested that these sol-gel auto combustion derived inorganic pigments may be useful for yellow emissive devices and cool coating applications.