Precipitate synthesis of BaMoO4 and BaWO4 nanoparticles at room temperature and their photoluminescence properties

The uniform BaMoO4 and BaWO4 nanoparticles (NPs) have been successfully synthesized by solution route – the direct precipitation of Ba(NO3)2 and Na2MO4 (M = Mo and W) in ethylene glycol under 24 h stirring. The XRD patterns and SEM images proved that the products were tetragonal structured BaMoO4 and BaWO4 with uniform round nanoparticles. Shape, average particle size and particle-size distribution of products were analyzed by TEM – showing the round nanoparticles with the average size of 31.52 ± 4.65 nm for BaMoO4, and 59.77 ± 9.61 nm for BaWO4. The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) indicated that the products have strong blue emission centered at 441 nm – excited with 280 nm wavelength for BaMoO4 NPs, and strong violet emission centered 378 nm – excited with 344 nm wavelength for BaWO4 NPs. These PL behaviors attributed the existence of intrinsic transitions in the [MO4]2-[MO4]2- (M = Mo and W) tetrahedrons of their crystal lattices.

► Synthesis of uniform BaMoO4 and BaWO4 nanoparticles (NPs) by solution route. ► BaMoO4 shows strong blue emission centered at 441 nm – excited with 280 nm wavelength. ► BaWO4 shows strong violet emission centered 378 nm – excited with 344 nm wavelength.