INDIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, v.90, no.3, pp.359 - 364
Abstract
In the present study, we have synthesized undoped and Cu2+-doped CdO nanopowders by a mild solution method at room temperature. Powder X-ray diffraction, optical absorption, electron paramagnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared measurements are used to characterize prepared powders. The powder X-ray diffraction patterns reflect the cubic crystal structure for undoped and Cu2+-doped CdO powders. Surface morphology images and compositional features are studied by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray techniques, respectively. The optical absorption spectra exhibit a single absorption band for Cu2+-doped sample, which is the characteristic absorption band of distorted octahedral site symmetry. By correlating the electron paramagnetic resonance and optical results for Cu2+-doped CdO nanopowder, bonding parameters are evaluated. These values indicate the partial covalency of in-plane sigma (alpha(2)) and inplane pi bonding (beta(2)(1)) between copper ions and their ligands. The FT-IR spectra indicate the fundamental vibrations of Cd-O.