Enhancement of optical characteristics of green-emitting single-phase Lu3Al5O12: Ce3+ phosphor using CeO2@B2O3 core–shell for white light generation

•Green-emitting Lu3Al5O12: Ce3+ phosphors were synthesized using core–shell as an activator.•Lu3Al5O12: Ce3+ using our approach shows a high luminescence efficiency.•Our approach is suggested as an alternative route for synthesizing phosphor.

High quality and single-phase Lu3Al5O12 phosphor materials are prepared with a solid state reaction method using CeO2@B2O3 core–shell structure. This technique makes it possible to obtain pure phase and allows enhancement of Lu3Al5O12 phosphor. The transmittance eletron microscope image and electron energy loss spectrum of the CeO2@B2O3 core–shell structure particles show that the B2O3 coating is uniform, with a thickness of around 10 nm, and that the core–shell structure is consisted of Ce and B elements. The Lu3Al5O12: Ce3+ phosphor using CeO2@B2O3 core–shell structure shows a higher emission intensity than other ones. The phosphor-converted white LEDs were realized with Lu3Al5O12: Ce3+ phosphor, which shows a high CRI value with a luminous efficacy of 104.58 lm/W. This phosphor and the synthesis method are expected to be promising candidates for realizing the white LEDs.