Low temperature solid-state synthesis and characterization of uniform YF3 submicroparticles

Abstract

In this paper, submicro-scaled YF3 particles with uniform rice-like morphologies were facilely synthesized by reacting yttrium nitrate with tetrabutylammonium fluoride via a solid-state reaction process at 50 °C for 12 h. The phase confirmation and morphology of the as-prepared YF3 particles were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM results reveal that the YF3 submicroparticles are about 700 nm in length and 260 nm in width. Eu3+ and Tb3+ doped YF3 submicroparticles were also prepared with similar process and their photoluminescence properties were studied. Results demonstrate that the doping of Eu3+ and Tb3+ has slight effect on the morphologies of the product. Owing to the small average crystallite size or the low crystallinity of the product, the photoluminescence intensity of the Eu3+ and Tb3+ doped YF3 submicroparticles is very weak. Some characteristic peaks even cannot be observed in the emission spectrum.