Effect of Eu3+ doping on the structural and photoluminescence properties of cubic CaCO3

• The doping of Eu3+ ions decreased the size of CaCO3 nanoparticles.
• The doping of Eu3+ ions brought about the change of CaCO3's optical bandgap.
• Multiple sites of Eu3+ in CaCO3 nanocrystals have been identified.

CaCO3:xEu3+ (x = 0, 0.010, 0.015, 0.020, and 0.025) cubic nanoparticles were synthesized by carbonation method. The powder XRD patterns and SEM images of the CaCO3:xEu3+ nanoparticles demonstrate that both the crystalline sizes and average particle sizes of synthesized samples decreased with the increase of Eu3+ content until x = 0.020. Kubelka–Munk plots and bandgap energy estimation indicate that the doping of Eu3+ ions changed optical bandgap of CaCO3. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra show that the PL intensity of the CaCO3:xEu3+ nanoparticles was enhanced with the increase of Eu3+ content in cubic CaCO3:xEu3+, and concentration quenching occurred when Eu3+ concentration exceeded 2.0 mol%. In addition, the doped sites of Eu3+ in CaCO3 crystalline were identified by the site-selective spectroscopy and decay curves.

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