Hydrothermal treatment for preparation of europium-lanthanum phosphates and exploration of their fluorescence properties

Europium-substituted lanthanum phosphates (Eu; 5 mol%) were prepared from lanthanum nitrate, europium nitrate, and sodium polyphosphate solutions by a hydrothermal process at 120 and 160 °C up to 8 h. The obtained phosphates were studied using XRD, IR spectroscopy, TG–DTA, and SEM. UV–vis absorbance and reflectance, as well as fluorescence, were estimated as functional properties of these phosphate materials. We found that samples prepared without hydrothermal treatment were amorphous (as indicated by their XRD patterns), whereas those prepared by a hydrothermal treatment contained peaks corresponding to lanthanum orthophosphate, indicating that the hydrothermal process caused the polyphosphate(s) to decompose into orthophosphate(s). The TG–DTA curves of the samples prepared by a hydrothermal treatment were different from those of the samples prepared without hydrothermal treatment. All samples reported herein had no specified shape despite using prolonged hydrothermal treatment times. Although the samples prepared without hydrothermal treatment showed only weak fluorescence peaks, those prepared by a hydrothermal treatment showed strong peaks at 556, 590, 615, and 690 nm. These peaks corresponded to transitions from 5D0 to 7F0, 7F1, 7F2, and 7F4, respectively. Collectively, these results indicate that the hydrothermal treatment is a useful method of obtaining europium-substituted lanthanum phosphates with fluorescence properties.