Highly thermally stable single-component warm-white-emitting ZANP glass: Synthesis, luminescence, energy transfer, and color tunability

Luminescent glass demonstrates potential for applications as color converters in white-light-emitting diodes (W-LEDs). In this study, solution combustion synthesis combined with low-temperature melt quenching was employed as a novel route for preparing new white-light fluorescent glasses (rare-earth-doped ZnO-Al2O3-Na2O-P2O5, ZANP). The developed solution combustion synthesis can considerably decrease the reaction temperature and time, with several advantages such as energy and time savings. X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence spectroscopy, as well as decay curves, CRI, and CCT, as well as the Commission Internationale de I′Eclairage (CIE) 1931 chromaticity coordinates, were assessed to examine the microstructure and photoluminescence properties of Tm3+/Dy3+ co-doped and Tm3+/Dy3+/Eu3+ tri-doped ZANP glasses for use in W-LEDs. Experimental results revealed that ZANP glass co-doped with Tm3+ and Dy3+ exhibits blue- and yellow-light emissions based on the energy transfer of dipole-dipole interaction between Tm3+ and Dy3+, which can realize the adjustment of color in a wide range. The emitting color coordinate (0.343, 0.344) of ZANP: 1.0Tm3+, 0.75Dy3+ approach ideal white light. Also, by the introduction of additional Eu3+ doping, ZANP:1.0Tm3+, 0.75Dy3+, 0.1%Eu3+ glass emit warm-white light (CCT = 3198 K) under an excitation of 361 nm. Moreover, the tri-doped ZANP glasses exhibit good thermal stability, where the luminous intensity at 498 K remains exceeding 50% of that at room temperature, and the color coordinate offset is only 2.87 × 10−2 relative to room temperature.