Cost effective synthesis to promote effective photoluminescent properties of rare earth doped MgO nanophosphor

A simple solution combustion method was adopted to form a series of MgO nanophosphors doped with different mol% of Dy3+ ions using urea as a fuel. The powder products were well characterized structurally, morphologically and optically by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and diffuse reflectance spectra. The elemental confirmation was done through elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The XRD patterns show that the final product is cubic in shape with the crystallite size ranging from 25 to 44 nm along with strain and dislocation densities also supported by HRTEM analysis. Photoluminescence (PL) studies under identical experimental conditions for the UV excitations, the formation of three prominent emission spectra at 488, 590 and 630 nm has been observed. These spectra show the transitions of 4f → 6h energy levels, namely 4F9/2 → 6H15/2 (488 nm), 4F9/2 → 6H13/2 (590 nm) and 4F9/2 → 6H11/2 (630 nm). The afterglow decay curve shows the single exponential decay for different MgO:Dy3+ nanophosphors compositions have been studied in detail.