Surface and spectral studies of Eu3+ doped α-Al2O3 synthesized via solution combustion synthesis

• Al2O3:Eu3+ phosphors were synthesized by combustion method.
• Band gap was calculated using diffused reflectance spectra.
• Under UV radiations material exhibits a strong red emission.
• XPS study reveals that synthesized sample was impurity free.

Low temperature solution combustion method using urea as fuel was employed for the synthesis of α-Al2O3:Eu3+ nanophosphor. The synthesized nanophosphor was well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and diffused reflectance spectroscopy. XRD results reveal that Eu3+ doped sample corresponds to the alpha phase of Al2O3. TEM analysis reveals particle size distribution in the range of 7–33 nm. XPS results reveal that no impurity elements was present in the nanophosphor and chemical state of the Eu was “+3” in nanophosphor, which favors the substitution of Eu ion in the Al2O3 host matrix. A bandgap of 5.97 eV is calculated using diffused reflectance spectrum. PL spectrum showed that under UV excitations (228, 396 nm) α-Al2O3:Eu3+ nanophosphor exhibits strong red emission due to characteristic 4f–4f transitions of Eu3+ (5D0 → 7Fj; j = 1, 2, 3, 4). The strong emission peak at 616 nm under 228 nm excitation may be used for possible practical applications in gamma and X-ray scintillators.

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