CTAB-assisted precipitation synthesis and photoluminescence properties of olive-like YVO4:Eu nanocrystallites

The olive-like YVO4:Eu nanocrystallites with the equatorial diameters ranging from 50 to 80 nm and the lengths in the range of 100–130 nm have been prepared via cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-assisted precipitation method at room temperature in ammonia water media. The olive-like morphologies of nanocrystallites are preserved for the samples calcined at 200 and 400 °C, respectively, while the raisin-like nanocrystallites are obtained after the sample was calcined at 600 °C. The olive-like or raisin-like YVO4:Eu nanocrystallites upon excitation at 275 nm exhibit the characteristic emission bands of 5D0–7FJ (J = 1, 2, 3, 4) transitions of Eu3+, with the 5D0−7F2 transition (split into two peaks at 617 and 621 nm) being the most prominent band. The red-to-orange ratio of Eu3+ for YVO4:Eu nanocrystallites varied with the change in the calcining temperature or the Eu-doped concentration, respectively. Both the calcining temperature and Eu-doped concentration could influence the emission color purity of the YVO4:Eu nanocrystallites.