Glycothermal synthesis and photoluminescent properties of Ce3+-doped YBO3 mesocrystals

Abstract

Abstract We report a glycothermal synthesis of Ce 3+ -doped YBO 3 mesocrystals and their Ce 3+ -concentration dependence of particulate and photoluminescent properties. Submicrometer-sized YBO 3 :Ce 3+ disk-like particles with Ce 3+ concentrations of 0–3 at.% were formed from trimethyl borate and acetates of yttrium and cerium(III) via a glycothermal reaction at 300 °C for 2 h in 1,4-butanediol. The size of the particles decreased from ∼1.5 μm to ∼150 nm with increasing the Ce 3+ concentration up to 1 at.%. Selected area electron diffraction revealed that each disk-like particle was a mesocrystal, i.e., an assembly of nanocrystals with a uniform crystallographic orientation, irrespective of the Ce 3+ concentration. The particles showed blue emission through 5d–4f transitions of Ce 3+ under near-UV excitation. Concentration quenching of the Ce 3+ emission for the glycothermally-prepared YBO 3 :Ce 3+ started from a lower Ce 3+ concentration than that of solid-state-prepared bulk YBO 3 :Ce 3+ , indicating an inhomogeneous distribution of Ce 3+ ions in the mesocrystals.