Spectroscopic properties of Eu-doped Y-stabilized ZrO2 microtubes

•A special sol-gel route permitted preparation of luminescent YSZ:Eu microtubes.•The microtubes remained transparent even after heating at 1100 °C.•Three Eu3+ sites were distinguished in site-selective/time-resolved emission spectra.•Comparative site symmetry analysis was carried out for the three Eu3+ centers.•Good agreement between theoretical and experimental Eu3+5D0 lifetimes were found.

Hereby we report a new microstructured luminescent material - Eu-doped yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) microtube - prepared by a special sol-gel route. Transparent, crack-free and brightly luminescent microtubes were obtained after thermal treatment at temperatures as high as 1100 °C. The implications of time-resolved and site-selective studies of Eu3+ luminescence are discussed. The decay kinetics of Eu3+ luminescence is modeled following the Judd-Ofelt theory and matched to the experimental data.