Enhanced photoluminescence properties of SrTiO3:Pr3+ nanocrystals by the “TEG-sol” method

Jiameng Zhang,Limin Guo,Jianchun Xu,Qingmin Wang,Ke Bi,Yanan Hao

doi:10.1063/1.5041821

Abstract

SrTiO3(STO):Pr3+ nanopowders are synthesized because of their excellent photoluminescence (PL) performance. The PL intensity is enhanced by morphological control and oxygen vacancy. The “TEG-sol” method is used to prepare STO:Pr3+ nanopowders with a size lower than 10 nm. Abundant oxygen vacancies are formed in the nanopowders without any further processing. The effect of annealing temperature on the PL properties is systematically studied. Bright green-white emission is achieved from pristine STO:Pr3+. Red emission is obtained after annealing at a temperature higher than 400 °C. A flexible and translucent STO:Pr3+/polyvinylidene fluoride nanocomposite film is fabricated, which shows outstanding PL and dielectric properties.

Highlights

Strontium titanate (STO) has attracted extensive attention due to its peculiar chemical and physical properties
Strong green-white PL emission was achieved under UV light excitation (362 nm) in pristine strontium titanate (STO):Pr3+ nanocubes before annealing, which was confirmed through the transmission of electrons to the oxygen vacancies
To realize the multifunctionality of the STO:Pr3+ nanopowders, we mixed the pristine STO:Pr3+ nanoparticles with the powders annealed at 700 ◦C evenly and introduced the mixture to a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer matrix via a generalized casting method to fabricate a flexible and translucent composite film

Summary

Introduction

Strontium titanate (STO) has attracted extensive attention due to its peculiar chemical and physical properties. Strong green-white PL emission was achieved under UV light excitation (362 nm) in pristine STO:Pr3+ nanocubes before annealing, which was confirmed through the transmission of electrons to the oxygen vacancies. The XPS spectra of STO:Pr3+ nanopowders before and after annealing at 700 ◦C, including survey, Pr 3d and Sr 3d spectra, are shown in Fig. S2 of the supplementary material, which confirm the high purity of STO:Pr3+ nanoparticles.

Results

Conclusion