Down-conversion emission of Er3+ doped sulfophosphate glass: The role of TiO2 and Ag nanoparticles co-embedment

Abstract

In this study, Er3+-doped sulfophosphate glasses containing titanium nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) with 0.0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, and 0.05 mol% of silver (Ag) nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized using the melt-quenching technique. The impact of AgNPs on the physical and structural characteristics, optical absorption and emission features, and photocatalytic activity of the glasses were investigated. The density and molar volume of the glasses were determined. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to study the existence of both AgNPs and TiO2 NPs in the glass matrix. The absorption spectra of the glasses revealed several bands of absorption in the UV–Vis–NIR region, with peaks at 1534, 977, 795, 650, 544, 520, 487, 450, 406, 378, and 364 nm. The SPR peaks of silver were observed at 553 and 588 nm, while those of TiO2 NPs were located around 409 and 849 nm. The intensity of emission was found to be enhanced by increasing the concentration of AgNPs. According to the findings of Judd-Ofelt theory, the system containing of 0.04 mol% of AgNPs has also the optimal performance which can be applied to the function of a broadband amplifier by having a high emission cross section of 70.18 × 10−22 cm2. Finally, the photocatalytic performance of the glasses was evaluated by conducting a degradation experiment with methylene blue (MB). The results validated their light-activated self-cleaning properties in the presence of Ag/TiO2 NPs.