Effect of H3BO3 flux on the morphology and optical properties of Sr2MgAl22O36:Mn4+ red phosphors for agricultural light conversion films

H3BO3 was added during the preparation of Sr2MgAl22O36:Mn4+ phosphors by a high-temperature solid-state reaction method. The influence of H3BO3 flux on the crystal structure, particle morphology and photoluminescence properties of the Sr2MgAl22O36:Mn4+ phosphors was investigated by employing X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence spectroscopy, respectively. The results indicate that adding H3BO3 flux can improve the luminescence intensity and morphology, and reduce the synthesis temperature of the Sr2MgAl22O36 phosphor. The formation temperature of pure-phase Sr2MgAl22O36 was significantly decreased when H3BO3 flux as introduced. The excited state lifetime of the Sr2MgAl22O36:1.2 mol% Mn4+ phosphor by the addition of 2.0 wt% H3BO3 was ~1.02 ms. We demonstrated the potential of these phosphors to enhance sunlight harvesting by agricultural light conversion film testing. We propose that films containing the Sr2MgAl22O36:1.2 mol% Mn4+ phosphor can be applied to increase the production of agricultural plants.