Surfactant-assisted synthesis and luminescent properties of Gd2O3:Eu3+ core-shell microspheres

Homogeneous and monodisperse Gd2O3:Eu3+ core-shell mirospheres have been successfully synthesized via a solvothermal method with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as surfactant, followed by a subsequent calcination process. The as-prepared products were characterized by various methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS), trans-mission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and photoluminescence spectra (PL). The results show that the obtained Gd2O3:Eu3+ mirospheres with a core-shell structure are uniform in size and distribution, and they have diameters of ∼350 nm, the core diameters of ∼150 nm, and the shell thicknesses of ∼45 nm. Under ultraviolet (UV) excitation, the corresponding Gd2O3:Eu3+ products exhibit strong red emission corresponding to the 5D07F2 transition of the Eu3+ ions, which might find potential applications in the fields such as light-emitting phosphors, advanced flat panel displays, or biological labeling.