Studies on the structural, optical and electrical properties of CeO2/SnPc nanocomposite for electronic applications

CeO2/SnPc nanocomposite was prepared by simple solvent evaporation method. Thermodynamic stability of the synthesized nanocomposite was studied by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis. The structure and morphology of the prepared nanocomposite were studied by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results obtained from these studies confirm the formation of CeO2/SnPc nanocomposite. The optical properties were characterized by ultraviolet–visible and photoluminescence spectroscopic techniques. Significant enhancements in the intensity of optical absorption spectra together with extended visible absorption were observed for the nanocomposite. The PL spectra of the nanocomposite show blue-green emission when excited with near-ultraviolet light. The dielectric properties of CeO2/SnPc nanocomposite at different frequencies ranging from 100 Hz–5 MHz have been studied over a temperature range 303–343 K. It is found that the dielectric constant and dielectric loss have high values at low frequencies, which decreases rapidly as frequency is increased and attains a constant value at higher frequencies. AC conductivity (σAC) of nanocomposite increases with increasing frequency following the universal dielectric response law. The desired structural, optical and electrical properties obtained from the present study offer CeO2/SnPc nanocomposite as a promising material for various applications in molecular electronics, dielectric semiconductor interfaces and field effect transistor (FET) based gas sensors and organic light emitting diodes.