Enhanced luminescence properties and morphology evolution of Bi1−xPO4:xDy3+ by introducing excessive PO43− ions

A series of Dy3+ ions doped bismuth phosphate (BiPO4) phosphors have been successfully synthesized via a facile and simple hydrothermal method by tuning the molar ratio of PO43−/[Bi3++Dy3+] and the Dy3+ ions concentration, and the structure, morphology and luminescence properties of the phosphors were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electronic microscopy (FE-SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The XRD patterns indicate that the BiPO4:Dy3+ sample with low temperature monoclinic phase (LTMP) grows preferentially along the (120) crystalline plane at the excessive PO43− introduced. From the FE-SEM images, the morphology of BiPO4:Dy3+ powder varying from irregular polyhedron-like to rod-like is observed with increasing the molar ratio of PO43−/[Bi3++Dy3+]. More importantly, the emission intensity of BiPO4:Dy3+ phosphor enhances dramatically with the excessive PO43− ions in the precursor. Therefore, the luminescence properties of the BiPO4:Dy3+ phosphors can be improved significantly through controlling the molar ratio of PO43−/[Bi3++Dy3+] in the precursor mixture, which may be a novel way to explore new luminescent materials.