Synthesis and characterization of Sm3+:Bi4Si3O12 and dispersed into silica nanophosphor for sensing application

Lanthanide doped bismuth silicate has been synthesized in micro scale domain and studied from structural, magnetic, thermal, as well as optical, and photoluminescent point of view. However, its preparation in nano-scale domain and applications in sensing field were still unexplored. In this study, we have applied different preparation conditions to prepare nano-phosphors based on samarium doped bismuth silicate (Sm3+:Bi4Si3O12) for sensing application. X mol Sm3+:Bi4Si3O12 (Sm3+:BSO) (x = 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07 mol) were prepared using sol-gel method followed by heat treatment. The effect of different surfactants as well as dispersion into silica matrix on the crystal, morphological, optical, and photoluminescent properties of 0.03 mol Sm3+:BSO Nano-phosphor were also studied. XRD and TEM results indicated that the capping agents (CTAB and TX100) and silica matrix can hinder BSO Nano-phosphor crystal growth, and, as a consequence, decrease their crystal size from micro to Nano-domain in case of sample dispersed into silica matrix (Sm3+:BSO/SiO2) (3 nm). Sm3+:BSO/SiO2 shows high PL properties. Optimized PL Nano-phosphor (Sm3+:BSO/SiO2) successfully developed latent fingerprint from various forensic relevant materials, including non-porous and porous surfaces. Moreover, the amino functionalized 0.03 mol Sm3+:BSO/SiO2 sensor was prepared for analytical determination of glucose.