Evaluation of the microstructure, optical properties and hopping conduction mechanism of rare earth doped Ba0.85Ca0.12RE0.03Ti0.90Zr0.04Nb0.042O3 ceramics (RE = Ce3+ and Pr3+)

M Bourguiba; Z Raddaoui; W Dimassi; M Chafra; J Dhahri; P Marchet; M A Garcia

doi:10.1039/d2ra01068b

Evaluation of the microstructure, optical properties and hopping conduction mechanism of rare earth doped Ba_0.85Ca_0.12RE_0.03Ti_0.90Zr_0.04Nb_0.042O₃ ceramics (RE = Ce³⁺ and Pr³⁺)

RSC Adv. 2022 Apr 6;12(17):10598-10607. doi: 10.1039/d2ra01068b. eCollection 2022 Mar 31.

Authors

M Bourguiba^{1

2}, Z Raddaoui^{3

4}, W Dimassi⁵, M Chafra¹, J Dhahri³, P Marchet⁴, M A Garcia⁶

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Applied Mechanics and Systems, School Polytechnic of Tunisia, University of Carthage La Marsa Tunisia.
² Faculty of Sciences Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar Tunis 2092 Tunisia.
³ Laboratory of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences, Faculty of Sciences of Monastir, University of Monastir Avenue of the Environment 5019 Monastir Tunisia raddaouizeineb@gmail.com.
⁴ Institute for Research on Ceramics, University of Limoges, UMR 7315 87068 Limoges France.
⁵ Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Systems for Renewable Energies (LaNSER), Research and Technology Center of Energy Techno-Park Borj-Cedria Hammam-Lif 2050 Tunisia.
⁶ Spanish National Research Counsil CSIC Madrid Spain.

Abstract

The current research work examines the impact of Rare Earth (RE³⁺) ion substitution on the structural, optical and conduction properties of a Ba_0.85Ca_0.12RE_0.03Ti_0.90Zr_0.04Nb_0.042O₃ (BCRETZN) (RE = Ce, Pr) ceramic compound produced via a solid-state route. The Rietveld method of the X-ray data revealed a tetragonal (P4mm) structure at room temperature for our ceramic compound. The morphology of the compound was explored using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) as well as optical response and conduction behavior. The photoluminescence properties revealed that the BCPrTZN sample results in green and red photoemissions under laser excitation at 450 nm at RT. Furthermore, for the BCCeTZN sample, the photoluminescence data demonstrated that strong violet emission bands were acquired, at RT upon an excitation at 350 nm. The electrical conduction process was verified via the correlated barrier Hopping method. The scaling behavior suggests that the electrical conduction mechanism is independent of temperature. The existence of Ce³⁺ and Pr³⁺ ions in these materials could have important technological potential in new multifunctional devices.