Multi-wavelength-driven solar spectral conversion in P2O5–ZnO–Li2O glasses for improving greenhouse photosynthetic activity

The highest quantum efficiency among amorphous materials was recently observed in the ns2-type Sn2+ activators doped ZnO–P2O5 glass system, which is comparable to the MgWO4 crystal. In this paper, Mn2+/Sn2+-codoped low-melting 44P2O5–36ZnO–20Li2O (PZL) glasses were prepared by the melt-quenching method to explore blue and red emission materials for greenhouse. Photoluminescence properties of the PZL glasses were investigated systematically by decay curves and absorption, excitation, and emission spectra. The glasses have high optical transparency in the visible region, and can emit intense red light excited at 300, 354, 409, and 505 nm. Significantly, upon 300 nm excitation, dual blue/red emissions were achieved. Moreover, the ratio of red to blue light could be tuned by adjusting the energy-transfer (ET) of Sn2+→Mn2+ through simply adjusting the content of Mn2+. Our research extends the utilization of solar energy in glass greenhouse for plant cultivation.