Citrate mediated synthesis and tuning of luminescence in Eu super(3+) incorporated Gd sub(2) O sub(3) nanophosphors

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 73
• Main Authors: Kumar, R G Abhilash, Gopchandran, K G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Cations; Citric acid; Crystal structure; Morphology; Nanostructure; Photoluminescence; Scanning electron microscopy; Transmission electron microscopy
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/73/1/012122

Gd sub(1.9) Eu sub(0.1) O sub(3) nanophosphors were prepared successfully by a large-scale facile solution based citrate-metal complex controlled combustion method and was systematically studied by varying the citric acid to metal cation ratio. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL) measurements and radiative properties were done to evaluate the crystal structure, phase formation, phase composition, surface morphology, radiative and luminescent properties of the prepared nanophosphors. Photoluminescent emission intensity of the samples can be correlated with the amount of citric acid, improved crystallinity, uniform morphology, particle size, reduced defects, and proper diffusion of Eu super(3+) in to the crystal structure of Gd sub(2) O sub(3). Higher asymmetricity results in intense red emission (612 nm) due to super(5) D sub(0)- super(7) F sub(2) forced electric dipole transition and found that photoluminescence intensity is highest for the sample prepared with citric acid to metal cation ratio of 2:1. The existence of strong red emission from Gd sub(1.9) Eu sub(0.1) O sub(3) nanophosphor corresponding to super(5) D sub(0)- super(7) F sub(2) transition (612 nm) of Eu super(3+) under UV light excitation make it a promising candidate for applications in bio assays, magnetic resonance imaging, deep uv LED's, solid state lighting, fluorescent lamps and flat panel displays.