Blue emission in Eu2+ and Ce3+ activated novel aluminates based phosphors

► Novel blue emission in Eu2+ and Ce3+ activated Zn0.865Mg0.730Al10.270O17 phosphor. ► The emission observed at 446 nm, 431 nm under broad-band excitation centered at 329 nm. ► The stokes shift ΔS is observed at around 7128 cm−1. ► Correlation in excitation bands of Eu2+ and Ce3+ studied by curve fitting.