Synthesis and photoluminescence of ZnAl2O4:Eu3+ hollow nanophosphors using carbon nanospheres as hard templates

ZnAl2O4:Eu3+ hollow nanophosphors have been for the first time prepared by using carbon nanospheres as hard templates. The ZnAl2O4:Eu3+ hollow nanophosphors were well characterized by means of XRPD, FESEM, TEM, HRTEM, N2 adsorption and desorption and PL techniques. The N2 adsorption and desorption data reveal the porous nature of ZnAl2O4:Eu3+ hollow nanophosphors and high surface area of 195.3 m2 g−1. The PL measurement illustrates red-emitting feature of ZnAl2O4:Eu3+ hollow nanophosphors arising from the characteristic transitions of Eu3+ from 5D0 → 7Fj (j = 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4). This simple and efficient synthetic strategy could be extended to prepare other series of aluminates nanophosphors with novel hollow structures.

Graphical abstractZnAl2O4:Eu3+ hollow nanophosphors have been for the first time prepared by using carbon nanospheres as hard templates.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (85 K)Download as PowerPoint slide