Abstract The luminescence and photocatalytic performance of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanostructures have been widely discussed. However, the study of ultraviolet (UV) luminescence and visible photocatalytic activity of metal (Al) doped Co3O4 has not been considered till date. In this study, we produce a series of cubic Al-doped Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by chemical route. The photoluminescence spectrum of pure Co3O4 sample shows UV emission as well as visible emission peaks while on the incorporation of Al3+ ion, only intense UV emission peak around 399 nm (3.10 eV) is observed with quenched DLEs in all doped Co3O4 samples. Though, the intensity of UV emission peak is found high as nine fold of the pure sample in all doped samples which have been affected by the density of free excitons induced by the Al doping. Also, photocatalytic degradation of reactive blue-171 (RB-171) dye was studied under visible light using pure and doped Co3O4 samples as a catalyst which possess extraordinarily enhanced visible photocatalytic performance. Therefore, due to considerable enhancement in UV emission and photocatalytic performance, we suggest that Al-doped Co3O4 NPs play a significant role in the applications of strong UV luminescence devices, electrochromic devices as well as photocatalytic utilizations.

中文翻译：

---

可见光下Al掺杂Co3O4纳米结构的紫外发射和光催化性能大幅增强

摘要 氧化钴（Co3O4）纳米结构的发光和光催化性能已被广泛讨论。然而，迄今为止，尚未考虑对金属 (Al) 掺杂 Co3O4 的紫外 (UV) 发光和可见光催化活性的研究。在这项研究中，我们生产了一系列通过化学途径合成的立方铝掺杂 Co3O4 纳米颗粒 (NPs)。纯 Co3O4 样品的光致发光光谱显示出紫外发射和可见光发射峰，而在掺入 Al3+ 离子时，在所有掺杂的 Co3O4 样品中仅观察到 399 nm (3.10 eV) 附近的强紫外发射峰和淬灭的 DLE。尽管如此，在所有掺杂样品中，发现紫外线发射峰的强度高达纯样品的 9 倍，这些样品受到铝掺杂引起的自由激子密度的影响。还，使用纯的和掺杂的 Co3O4 样品作为催化剂，在可见光下研究了活性蓝 171（RB-171）染料的光催化降解，这些样品具有显着增强的可见光催化性能。因此，由于紫外发射和光催化性能的显着增强，我们认为掺杂 Al 的 Co3O4 NPs 在强紫外发光器件、电致变色器件以及光催化应用中发挥重要作用。