Energy transfer studies of Ce3+–Mn2+ and Ce3+–Tb3+ in an emitting tunable Mg2Al4Si5O18:Ce3+/Mn2+/Tb3+ phosphor

• An emitting tunable Mg2Al4Si5O18:Ce3+/Mn2+/Tb3+ phosphor phosphors have been synthesized by solid state reaction.
• Energy transfer in this host is systematically investigated and their origins are to be revealed.
• The emitting colors can be adjusted from blue to red and green via the energy transfer.

An emitting tunable Mg2Al4Si5O18:Ce3+/Mn2+/Tb3+ phosphors have been synthesized by high-temperature solid-state reaction technique. In this system, Mg2Al4Si5O18:Ce3+, Mn2+ samples exhibit two dominating bands situated at 430 and 640 nm, originating from the Ce3+, Mn2+ ions, respectively. Photoluminescence and energy transfer in Mg2Al4Si5O18:Ce3+, Mn2+ are investigated as a function of Mn2+ concentrations. The intensity ratios of red to blue band as a function of Mn2+ concentrations are calculated based on the analysis of the luminescence dynamical process as well as fluorescence lifetime measurements, and the results are in good agreement with that obtained directly from emission spectra. Additionally, by incorporation of Tb3+, an efficient energy transfer from Ce3+ to Tb3+ was found and the energy transfer efficiency reaches 52% at y = 0.05. Results indicated that the emitting colors can be adjusted from blue to red via the energy transfer of Ce3+ → Mn2+ and from blue to green via the energy transfer of Ce3+ → Tb3+.