Abstract: Sol–gel derived nanostructured CeO2 film was deposited on glass substrate using by dip-coating technique with annealing at 650 ℃. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), UV/vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy studies were employed to analyze the structural and optical properties of the sol–gel derived nanostructured CeO2 film. The average crystallite size was estimated from the XRD pattern using by Scherrer equation as about 3–4 nm. An SEM micrograph shows that the film was porous in nature and crack free. The UV-visible absorption spectroscopic measurement results showed that the products had conspicuous quantum size effects. The absorption spectrum indicates that the sol–gel derived nanostructured CeO2 film has a direct bandgap of 3.23 eV and the photoluminescence spectra of the film show a strong band at 378 nm: it may have a promising application as an optoelectronic material.

Key words: sol–gel derived nanostructured CeO2 film