A Novel Synthesis of Hydrothermally Prepared Europium Sulfide and Cerium Sulfide Nanomaterials Doped with Yttrium

Chalcogenide sulfides have shown useful relevance in nanotechnology owing to their unique optical features, improved sensitivity, and increased electrical conductivity. These unique features formed the motivation for this study by adopting a new method for preparing these nanostructures. This work presents a novel hydrothermal method of synthesizing europium sulfide, EuS and cerium sulfide, Ce2S3 nanomaterials doped with yttrium. The effects of the dopant on the structural, morphological, elemental, optical, and electrical properties of the prepared materials were investigated using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDX), optical spectrophotometer, and a four point probe, respectively. Prominent peaks with orthorhombic structure were gotten from the X-ray diffractograms. Nanogels which spread over the substrate surface were seen in the surface morphologies. The presence of as-deposited elements was observed. Optical results revealed good absorbance, refractive index of about 2.6, and reduced energy band gap energies from 2.28 to 1.40 eV upon addition of yttrium. Electrical plots gave increasing conductivity upon addition of the dopant and at increasing thicknesses. Results from the synthesized samples show good potentials for use in optoelectronic and solar cell devices.