Self propagating combustion synthesis and luminescent properties of nanocrystalline CeO2:Tb3+ (1–10 mol%) phosphors

• CeO2:Tb3+ nanophosphors were prepared by low temperature solution combustion route.
• The crystal structures of the phosphor were determined by using Rietveld refinement.
• The product was well characterized by PXRD, SEM, TEM, UV–Vis etc.
• Dipole–dipole interaction was the major mechanism of concentration quenching of Tb3+.
• The phosphor demonstrate promising green component for NUV InGaN-based white LED.

Undoped and Tb3+ (1–10 mol%) doped CeO2 nanophosphors were synthesized by low temperature solution combustion method. The combustion derived products were well studied by Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Ultraviolet visible (UV–Vis) characterizations. The thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves of CeO2:Tb3+ (1–10 mol%) nanophosphors exposed to γ source (60Co) for various doses were discussed for the first time. Two TL glow peaks recorded at 182 and 262 °C respectively. The TL intensity at 262 °C peak increases linearly in the dose range 0.5–7 kGy. Further, this peak was well defined, intense and glow peak structure does not change with γ-dose as a result, it was quite useful in TL dosimetry of ionizing radiations. The kinetic parameters associated with the glow peak were estimated using Chen’s half width method. The photoluminescence emission (PLE) spectra consists of characteristic peaks at 544 and 655 nm which were attributed to 5D4 → 7F5 and 5D4 → 7F2 transitions of Tb3+ ions. The optimal concentration of Tb3+ ions was found to be 7 mol%. The color co-ordinates of CeO2:Tb3+ (1–10 mol%) located in green region. Hence, this phosphor was quite useful for display applications.

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