Thermal and photoluminescence properties of hydrated YPO4:Eu3+ nanowires

In this work, we used the solution precipitation route to synthesize Eu3+-doped YPO4·nH2O nanowires. The structure, morphology, composition, thermal behavior, and photoluminescence of as-synthesized product were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopic (FE-SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The dependence of the structure, morphology, composition and luminescent properties on the thermal treatment was investigated. The results indicate that the aqueous synthesis has a better control on the structure, morphology, composition of the products, and that the heat treatment induces the transitions of the structure, composition, and luminescent properties.

Graphical abstractThe emission efficiency of the sample annealed at 250 °C is about six times as high as that of as-synthesized sample. This is attributed primarily to the coordinated water as the nonradiative relaxation pathways in the as-synthesized sample.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide