Tunable multicolor luminescence and white light emission realized in Eu3+ mono-activated GdF3 nanofibers with paramagnetic performance

• Main Authors: Li, Dan, Ma, Qianli, Song, Yan, Xi, Xue, Dong, Xiangting, Yu, Wensheng, Wang, Jinxian, Liu, Guixia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 30.11.2016
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c6ra21039b

Luminescent-magnetic bifunctional GdF 3 :Eu 3+ nanofibers have been successfully fabricated via the combination of electrospinning followed by calcination with fluorination technique. The structure, morphologies, luminescence, and magnetic properties of the synthesized nanomaterials have been characterized by a variety of techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicates that the as-obtained GdF 3 :Eu 3+ nanofibers have a pure orthorhombic structure. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations show that the directly electrospinning-made PVP/[Gd(NO 3 ) 3 + Eu(NO 3 ) 3 ] composite nanofibers have smooth surfaces, uniform size and good dispersion, and the surfaces of GdF 3 :Eu 3+ nanofibers become rough after calcination and fluorination process. The diameters of composite nanofibers and GdF 3 :Eu 3+ nanofibers are respectively 333.26 ± 1.80 nm and 86.54 ± 0.55 nm under the confidence level of 95%. Under 274 nm ultraviolet light excitation, GdF 3 :Eu 3+ nanofibers exhibit characteristic 5 D 3,2,1,0 → 7 F J emission of Eu 3+ and the trend of their color tones changes from blue, cold white, warm white to red by adjusting the molar concentration of Eu 3+ . In addition, all of the samples exhibit paramagnetic features and the magnetic properties of GdF 3 :Eu 3+ nanofibers are tunable by modulating the doping concentration of Eu 3+ ions. More importantly, the tunable multicolor luminescence, white light emission and paramagnetic properties are simultaneously realized in single-phase GdF 3 :Eu 3+ nanofibers, which are ideally suited to applications in many fields such as solid-state lasers, lighting and displays, magnetic resonance imaging. This design conception and construction strategy developed in this work may provide some new guidance for the synthesis of other rare earth fluoride nanostructures with various morphologies. GdF 3 :Eu 3+ nanofibers with luminescent-magnetic bi-functionality have been successfully fabricated by combination of electrospinning followed by subsequent calcination with fluorination technology.