Novel (Y2O3) x (CdO) 1-x binary mixed oxide nanocomposites: facile synthesis, characterization, and photocatalysis enhancement

In the current study, novel (Y2O3) x (CdO) 1-x mixed oxides nanocomposites (NCs) with different Y2O3 loadings (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) have been synthesized via a facile precipitation approach. The structural analysis by x-ray diffraction reveals that both pure CdO nanoparticles (NPs) and (Y2O3) x (CdO) 1-x NCs possess crystalline and cubic-phase purity. The crystallite size in the mixing nanocomposition (NCs) ranged from 45 to 52 nm based on the concentration of Y2O3 in the NCs. The morphologies of CdO NPs and (Y2O3) x (CdO) 1-x NCs were studied using field emission scanning electron microscopy. This confirmed that the collected NCs had an irregular semi-spherical morphology. It was established, based on the Tauc figure, that the optical band gap of the produced NCs had lowered from 3.35 to 2.96. Testing conducted by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) reveals that an increase in surface area and pore …