Morphology and photoluminescence properties of YBO3:Eu3+(5%) tuned by B3+ source, stirring speed, pH value and post-annealing

•The stirring during hydrothermal reaction significantly enhances the emission intensity.•Weak acidity in the initial solution enhances the emission in the visible light wavelength range.•Post-annealing enhances the emission in the visible light wavelength range which is useful in the PDP application.

YBO3:Eu3+ phosphors with different morphologies such as flower-like, spherical-like and cake-like have been hydrothermally synthesized without any additives by simply adjusting the B3+ sources, stirring speeds and initial solution pH values. During the hydrothermal reaction, stirring with suitable speed can reduce particle size and obtain more uniform size distribution. The emission intensity can be distinctly enhanced by stirring and post-annealing due to the micro-structural improvement and better crystallization. Interestingly, the weak acidity (pH = 6) in the initial solution or post-annealing enhances the emission in the wavelength range of visible light, and weakens the emission around 700 nm due to weakened distortion of the outside surroundings of Eu3+, which is useful in Plasma Display Panel (PDP) application.

Graphical abstractWith increasing sintering temperature, the emission intensities around 593, 612 and 626 nm (in the visible light range) first increase from 260 to 1300 °C, and then decrease due to the temperature quenching effect. However, the emission around 700 nm monotonously decreases with increasing the sintering temperature, originating from the variation of the outside surroundings of Eu3+ instead of the temperature quenching effect, which is useful in PDP application.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide