Tunable and white emission from ZnO:Tb3+ nanophosphors for solid state lighting applications

•ZnO:Tb3+ nano-phosphors were synthesised by a solution combustion method.•Emission bands of blue, green, and red obtained due to defect and Tb3+ transitions.•The formation of different kind of defect is confirmed by XPS analysis.•The emitting colour could easily be tuned from yellow to blue by varying the Tb3+.•Near white emission was achieved for the 5 mol% of the Tb3+ doping in ZnO:Tb3+.

Terbium doped Zinc oxide (ZnO:Tb3+) nano-phosphors (NPr) with a hexagonal wurtzite structure were synthesised by a solution combustion method. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the formation of different kind of defects for the undoped and lower Tb doping concentrations and the formation of Tb2O3 at higher doping concentrations. A broadband orange-red emission ranging from 500 to 850 nm was obtained from the undoped ZnO while white light emission was observed from ZnO doped with 5 mol% of Tb. The colour of the emission of the ZnO:Tb3+ NPr was tuned by varying the concentrations of Tb3+ in the ZnO host. The ZnO:Tb3+ NPr have potential applications in solid state lighting.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide