A single phase, red emissive Mg2SiO4:Sm3+ nanophosphor prepared via rapid propellant combustion route

•Orthorhombic Mg2SiO4:Sm3+ phosphor has been prepared using combustion technique at very low temperature (350 °C).•Characteristic emission peaks of Sm3+ ion in the range 550–750 nm are recorded.•The phosphor show different emissions due to Sm3+ corresponding to 4G5/2 → 6Hj (j = 5/2, 7/2, 9/2, 11/2) transitions.•Present phosphor was quite useful for WLEDs.

Mg2SiO4:Sm3+ (1–11 mol%) nanoparticles were prepared by a rapid low temperature solution combustion route. The powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns exhibit orthorhombic structure with α-phase. The average crystallite size estimated using Scherer’s method, W–H plot and strain–size plots were found to be in the range 25–50 nm and the same was confirmed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pictures show porous structure and crystallites were agglomerated. The effect of Sm3+ cations on luminescence of Mg2SiO4 was well studied. Interestingly the samples could be effectively excited with 315 nm and emitted light in the red region, which was suitable for the demands of high efficiency WLEDs. The emission spectra consists of four main peaks which can be assigned to the intra 4-f orbital transitions of Sm3+ ions 4G5/2 → 6H5/2 (576 nm), 4G5/2 → 6H7/2 (611 nm), 4G5/2 → 6H9/2 (656 nm) and 4G5/2 → 6H11/2 (713 nm). The optimal luminescence intensity was obtained for 5 mol% Sm3+ ions. The CIE (Commission International de I’Eclairage) chromaticity co-ordinates were calculated from emission spectra, the values (0.588, 0.386) were close to the NTSC (National Television Standard Committee) standard value of red emission. Coordinated color temperature (CCT) was found to be 1756 K. Therefore optimized Mg2SiO4:Sm3+ (5 mol%) phosphor was quite useful for solid state lighting.

Graphical abstractPL spectra, energy level diagram and CIE of Mg2SiO4:Sm3+ nanophosphor.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide