Preparation and photoluminescence of monolithic silica glass doped with Tb3+ ions using SiO2–PVA nanocomposite

•The monolithic silica glass doped with Tb3+ ions was fabricated utilizing the SiO2–PVA nanocomposite.•To obtain the silica glass, the nanocomposite was immersed in a Tb ions solution, subsequently sintered at 1100 °C in air.•The doped glass exhibited green fluorescence attributed to 5D4 → 7F5 main transitions by Tb3+ ions under UV excitation.•The Tb concentration in the glass can be adjusted by the concentration of the Tb solution and immersion time.

The monolithic silica glass doped with Tb3+ ions was fabricated using the SiO2–PVA nanocomposite as the glass precursor. In order to dope Tb3+ ions in the monolithic silica glass, the mesoporous SiO2–PVA nanocomposite was immersed in the Tb3+ ions contained solution and subsequently sintered at 1100 °C in air. Consequently the monolithic transparent silica glass was obtained, exhibiting green fluorescence attributed to 5D4 → 7F5 main transitions under UV excitation. The Tb concentration in the sintered glass could be controlled by immersion time of the nanocomposite in the solution.