Multicolor upconversion luminescence of Ln-doped Sc2O3 achieved by coordination geometry mediated RE-MOFs molecular alloys as precursor

Abstract

The wide application of lanthanide ion (Ln3+) doped upconversion (UC) luminescent materials in optical communication, color display, anti-counterfeiting, bioimaging, and so on have fuelled increasing demand for new host materials and rational control over the emission profiles. In this study, we serendipitous obtained the unexpected Sc/Ln codoped rare earth metal-organic frameworks (RE-MOFs) molecular alloys (MAs) based on rare earth oxalate (Ln = Yb/Tm and Yb/Ho) even though they show three different crystal structures. Moreover, the crystal structure of RE-MOFs MAs changes at varying Sc:Ln mole ratio. We achieved the corresponding Ln3+ doped Sc2O3 by pyrolysis of the RE-MOFs MAs precursor, and investigated the UC luminescence property. The codoped rare earth oxide (REO) shows characteristic blue color emission for Yb/Tm, and green color emission for Yb/Ho doped Sc2O3 microcrystals respectively. This study here provides useful theoretical information for enriching novel Ln3+ doped UC luminescent materials.