Multicolor upconversion luminescence of GdVO4:Ln3+/Yb3+ (Ln3+ = Ho3+, Er3+, Tm3+, Ho3+/Er3+/Tm3+) nanorods

• Ln3+-doped GdVO4 nanorods successfully prepared by chemical co-precipitation method.
• Red, green and blue upconversion emission was achieved.
• White emission was achieved by tuning concentrations of Ln3+ ions in GdVO4.

Lanthanide-doped GdVO4 nanorods that exhibit upconversion emission under 982 nm excitation have been prepared by a facile room-temperature chemical co-precipitation method followed by a subsequent annealing at temperatures of 600 °C, 800 °C and 1000 °C. Multicolor upconversion emission, including white, was achieved by tuning the concentrations of dopant lanthanide ions (Ho3+, Er3+, Tm3+ and Yb3+) in GdVO4. It is found that four GdVO4 samples emit light with the white chromaticity coordinates of (0.326, 0.339), (0.346, 0.343), (0.323, 0.327) and (0.342, 0.340) respectively, under a single-wavelength NIR excitation. These coordinates are very close to the standard equal energy white light coordinates (0.333, 0.333) according to the 1931 CIE diagram. By varying dopant lanthanide concentrations in nanorods it is possible to produce upconversion emission with colors between red (0.504, 0.369), green (0.282, 0.577) and blue (0.142, 0.125) coordinates.

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