Photoluminescence, photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of CeO2·CuO·ZnO nanocomposite fabricated by co-precipitation method.

A novel tri-metallic oxide nanocomposite CeO2·CuO·ZnO has been synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method. The nanocomposite has been characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, FTIR and PL spectra. The crystallite size of the CeO2·CuO·ZnO was calculated using XRD data. The crystallite size of the CeO2·CuO·ZnO mixed metal oxide annealed at 600 °C is found to be in range of 15.34-44.81 nm, with an average size of 29.51 nm. Excitation at different wavelengths showed PL in UV and visible regions. It has been found that PL behavior of CeO2·CuO·ZnO is excitation wavelength dependent. This flexible PL property is conflicting to well-known Kasha's rule of excitation wavelength dependence of emission spectrum. The catalyst shows better photo-catalytic dye degradation efficiency in slightly alkaline pH in presence of H2O2. Nanocomposite CeO2·CuO·ZnO was found to be effective against pathogenic bacteria.