RESUMO
ZnO nanoparticles ranging from 2 to 10 nm were grown on ZSM-5 and mordenite zeolite hosts with different SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratios (MR). Formation of ZnO nanoparticles in the samples was confirmed by TEM. XRD and nitrogen adsorption measurements revealed that the zeolite structure is not destroyed. Surface Zn concentration was calculated from XPS data. ZnO nanoparticles in the zeolite matrix were studied by UV-Vis, diffuse reflectance and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopies. CL revealed three different emissions from ZnO nanoparticles, approximately 3.1, 2.8 and 2.5 eV. The ZnO band-edge emission was associated with blue defects-related and oxygen vacancies emissions. The generation of the point defects at the interface explains the presence of this blue band.