Cadmium silicate with tunable morphology by cationic surfactant assisted sonochemical route suitable for white light emitting diodes

Abstract

The cationic surfactant assisted ultrasound route was used for the preparation of pure and Dy3+ (1-11 mol %) doped CdSiO3 nanostructures. The shape, size and morphology of the products were tuned by controlling the various experimental parameters. The final product was well characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL). It was evident that the morphology was highly dependent on the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant concentration, sonication time, pH and sonication power. The formation mechanism for various micro/nano superstructures were proposed. The characteristic photoluminescence peaks observed at 484, 574 and 646 nm were due to the electronic transitions 4F9/2 → 6Hj (j=15/2, 13/2, 11/2) of Dy3+ ions upon excited at NUV pumping wavelength of 344 nm [6H15/2 → 6P7/2 (4M15/2)]. The photometric studies indicated that the obtained phosphors could be promising compounds in white light emitting diodes (wLED’s). The present synthetic route was rapid, environmentally benign, cost-effective and useful for industrial applications such as solid state lighting and display devices