Preparation and photoluminescent properties of Ni2+-doped ZrO2 fibers

Ni2+-doped ZrO2 precursor fibers were prepared via sol-gel technique by dry-spinning method and then heat-treated at different temperatures. The surface of the fibers is smooth with uniform diameter and no cracks have been observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The emission intensity reaches a maximum value at 1 mol% Ni2+ because of the concentration quenching. The photoluminescence (PL) relative intensity is apparently intensifying with increasing temperature before 700 °C due to the crystallinity of the ZrO2 lattice improvement. The PL results show that the typical emission center is at 510 nm excited at 315 nm.