Hydrothermal synthesis and luminescence properties of Ca5(PO4)3F: Eu3+ microrods

In this work, uniform and well-crystallized Ca5(PO4)3F: Eu3+ microrods have been successfully synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal synthesis method by sodium citrate as the crystal modifier. The prepared samples were systematically characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL), and photoluminescent excitation spectra (PLE). Detailed proofs indicated that the growth process of Ca5(PO4)3F: Eu3+ microrods was dominated by a nucleation-crystallization-oriented attachment mechanism. Furthermore, the luminescent properties of the as-synthesized Ca5(PO4)3F: Eu3+ microrods were also investigated.