Preparation and photoluminescence properties of YAG:Ce3+ phosphors by a series of amines assisted co-precipitation method

• The formation temperature of YAG phase is lower than the previous similar work.
• A series of amines was used as precipitator to synthesize YAG:Ce3+ phosphors.
• The composition of solvent played a critical role in the morphology of the sample.
• The dosage of TETA affects the morphological and optical properties of powders.
• The particle size of YAG:Ce3+ powders varied with the difference of precipitants.

In this work, YAG:Ce3+ phosphor powders were firstly prepared by a co-precipitation method, in which a mixed solution according to stoichiometric molar amounts of aluminum, yttrium and cerium nitrates were co-precipitated using different precipitants. Pure YAG phase were obtained at 800 °C, which is lower than those applied for preparing YAG:Ce3+ phosphors by co-precipitation method using ammonia water (1000 °C) and ammonium hydrogen carbonate (900 °C) as precipitants. The structural, morphological and optical properties of YAG:Ce3+ were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR spectroscopy, the thermogravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescent spectra measurements at ambient temperature. The results show the sintering temperature, the solvent volume ratio of ethanol/water and dosage of triethylenetetramine have strongly effects on the structural, morphology, and optical properties of YAG:Ce3+ phosphor. Meanwhile, diethylenetriamine (DETA) and tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) have been also used as precipitants, the properties of these samples are comparable to that of the sample by using triethylenetetramine as precipitant. Meanwhile, 1 mol% of Ce3+ has been also proved the optimal doped concentration for the PL emssion intensity of samples. Thus diethylenetriamine, triethylenetetramine and tetraethylenepentamine might be valiable precipitants for the preparation of yttrium aluminum garnet based materials.

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