Molten salt synthesis and luminescent properties of nearly spherical YAG:Ce phosphor

Nonaggregated YAG:Ce phosphor with a nearly spherical morphology was successfully synthesized using the mixtures of Na2SO4–BaF2 as the molten salt and the oxides (Y2O3, CeO2 and Al2O3) as raw materials via a molten salt method. The Y3Al5O12 phase can be well crystallized at a temperature as low as 1350 °C. By varying the mass ratios of molten salt/raw materials and Na2SO4/BaF2, the average diameter of the particles can be controlled in a range of 10–40 μm. The as-prepared YAG:Ce phosphor showed a characteristic yellow emission of Ce ions in a range of 480–650 nm under excitation of 460 nm blue light. What׳s more, the phosphor showed the strongest emission when the mass ratio of the molten salt/raw materials was 1.8:1 and the dosage of BaF2 in Na2SO4–BaF2 was 5 wt%.