Multifunctional near-infrared long persistent luminescence phosphor BaLu2Al2Ga2SiO12:Cr3+, Tb3+ with good thermal stability, promising quantum efficiency, and excellent environmental resistance

Abstract

Near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence (PersL) phosphors have gained significant study attention in bioimaging and biomedical fields due to the advantages of persistent emission and elimination of biological tissue autofluorescence. However, PersL phosphors generally have difficulty in guaranteeing both good thermal stability and external quantum efficiency (EQE), which limits the multi-functional applications of NIR PersL phosphors. Herein, we developed a novel multifunctional NIR PersL phosphor BaLu2Al2Ga2SiO12:Cr3+ (BLAGSO:Cr3+). Interestingly, this NIR phosphor has good thermal stability (99.7 %@150 °C for BLAGSO:0.03Cr3+) and promising EQE (31.08 % for BLAGSO:0.03Cr3+). To further improve its PersL performance, Tb3+ ion which is believed to act as a modulator of matrix defects and enhances the storage capacity of traps for electrons is introduced into BLAGSO:0.03Cr3+ and an optimal PersL duration of more than 48 h is achieved. Meanwhile, BLAGSO:0.03Cr3+, 0.03 Tb3+ also exhibits good photo-stimulated PersL (PSPL) ability, and the quenched PersL can be rejuvenated by external photo-stimulation. The potential uses of BLAGSO:0.03Cr3+, 0.03 Tb3+ in NIR pc-LEDs and bioimaging are explored and demonstrated. This work is anticipated to drive the research of multifunctional NIR PersL phosphors.