Effect of Eu2O3 concentration on luminescent properties of Ce/Tb/Eu co-doped calcium borosilicate glass for white LED

•Effect of Eu2O3 concentration was investigated from the excitation and emission spectra, the fluorescence lifetimes and the colorimetric analysis.•The energy transfers from Ce3+, Tb3+ and Eu2+ ions to Eu3+ ions were discussed.•Tb3+ can accept energy from Eu2+ and transfer energy to Eu3+ with different Eu2O3 concentrations.•The CCTs of Ce/Tb/Eu co-doped calcium borosilicate glass can be adjusted from cold white to warm white by controlling the concentration of Eu2O3.

Luminescent properties of Ce/Tb/Eu co-doped calcium borosilicate glass were investigated through excitation and emission spectra, fluorescence lifetimes and colorimetric analysis. The spectra results show that the concentration quenching of Eu3+ ions occurs when the concentration of Eu2O3 ranges from 0.75 mol% to 1.00 mol% and Ce3+, Tb3+ and Eu2+ ions are all the donors which can transfer energy to Eu3+. It can be indicated from the analysis of lifetimes that through nonradiative transition, Tb3+ ions can accept energy from Eu2+ ions and also transfer energy to Eu3+ ions. Furthermore, the colorimetric analysis show that the correlated color temperatures (CCT) of Ce/Tb/Eu co-doped calcium borosilicate glass can be adjusted from cold white to warm white by controlling the concentration of Eu2O3.