Block Copolymer-Assisted Solvothermal Synthesis of Hollow Bi2MoO6Spheres Substituted with Samarium.
Hollow spherical structures of ternary bismuth molybdenum oxide doped with samarium (Bi2-xSmxMoO6) were successfully synthesized via development of a Pluronic P123 (PEO20-PPO70-PEO20)-assisted solvothermal technique. Density functional theory calculations have been performed to improve our understanding of the effects of Sm doping on the electronic band structure, density of states, and band gap of the material. The calculations for 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.3 revealed a considerably flattened conduction band minimum near the Γ point, suggesting that the material can be considered to possess a quasi-direct band gap. In contrast, for x = 0.5, the conduction band minimum is deflected toward the U point, making it a distinctly indirect band gap material. The effects of a hollow structure as well as Sm substitution on the absorbance and fluorescence properties of the materials produced increased emission intensities at low Sm concentrations (x = 0.1 and 0.3), with x = 0.1 displaying a peak photoluminescence intensity 13.2 times higher than for the undoped bulk sample. Subsequent increases in the Sm concentration resulted in quenching of the emission intensity, indicative of the onset of a quasi-direct-to-indirect electronic band transition. These results indicate that both mesoscale structuring and Sm doping will be promising routes for tuning optoelectronic properties for future applications such as catalysis and photocatalysis.
Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut , Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.|Inorganic Chemistry Department, University of Tabriz , C.P. 51664 Tabriz, Iran.
Raana
R
Kashfi-Sadabad
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut , Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.
Sajad
S
Yazdani
Inorganic Chemistry Department, University of Tabriz , C.P. 51664 Tabriz, Iran.
Abdolali
A
Alemi
Materials Science & Engineering Department, University of Connecticut , Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.
Tran Doan
TD
Huan
Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut , Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.|Materials Science & Engineering Department, University of Connecticut , Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.
Rampi
R
Ramprasad
Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut , Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.|Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut , Storrs, Connecticut 06269, United States.
Michael Thompson
MT
Pettes