Annealing temperatures influence luminescence of YBO3: Ce3+, Yb3+ prepared by solvothermal method

Near-infrared (NIR) quantum cutting (QC) YBO3: Ce3+, Yb3+ phosphors have been synthesized by solvothermal method with further heat treatment. The emission spectrum shows the Vis and NIR emission intensity of samples are both increasingly strong as annealing temperature rises when the annealing temperature is above 600 °C. Meanwhile the Vis emission of unannealed sample is observed. SEM images show that the sample annealed at different temperatures (200-900 °C) is mainly composed of nanosheets like potato chips, which is melt down granules after annealing treatment above 1000 °C.The crystal texture of all samples whether annealed or not is hexagonal through the analysis of XRD. The Raman and infrared spectrums indicate that the boron ions exist of BO4 units when the annealing temperature is above 600 °C. The infrared profile of unannealed sample shows that there are N-H units in the samples without annealing treatment.