Blue light emitting ceramic nano-pigments of Tm3+ doped YAlO3: Applications in latent finger print, anti-counterfeiting and porcelain stoneware

•First time quality of finger print was improved by using YAlO3:Tm3+ nanophosphor.•CIE values of the samples were close to NTSC standard values of blue emission.•Enhancement of fingermarks recognition was achieved by simple and quick method.•YAlO3:Tm3+ nanophosphor showed applications in the anti-counterfeiting ink.•Blue light emitting phosphor for future WLEDs and solid state lighting.

A new class of ceramic pigments based on orthorhombic Thulium (Tm3+) doped YAlO3 nanophosphors are synthesized by a simple and efficient low temperature solution combustion method using oxalyl dihydrazide (ODH) as fuel. The phosphors exhibit bright blue emission upon 359 nm excitation. Judd–Ofelt (J–O) theory is applied to a series of Tm3+ doped phosphors based on their emission spectra. CIE chromaticity co-ordinates confirm blue emission of the phosphor. The prepared nano-phosphor was successful in developing latent fingerprint from various forensic relevant materials. A preliminary investigation of their anti-counterfeiting performance has been made, and the results indicate that the color emitting capability and high concealment makes this nanophosphor can provide a strengthened and more reliable anti-counterfeiting effect. As a result the optimized YAlO3:Tm3+ (3 mol%) phosphor is quite useful for potential application of pigments of desired color, solid state lighting, latent fingerprint, display and anti-counterfeiting applications.

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