Near-infrared light driven highly efficient and thermally stable Gd2Ti2O7:Er3+/Yb3+ sub-microspheres for photocatalytic and plant growth LED applications

Abstract

Photocatalysis is a technique that can help address various global challenges of energy and environment by utilizing solar energy. Photocatalysts that can capture light from different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as ultraviolet, visible or near-infrared, are required to optimize the use of solar energy. Therefore, researchers have been developing various strategies to design such photocatalysts. Herein, we report the NIR-induced photocatalytic performance of pyrochlore-structured Gd2Ti2O7:1Er3+/10Yb3+ (GT:Er3+/Yb3+) sub-microspheres by using rhodamine B (RhB), a commom organic dye, as a probe molecule. A facile solvothermal process was used to prepare the sub-microspheres that emitted strong red light when irradiated by a 980 nm laser. The luminescence mechanism was attributed to cross-relaxation and back energy transfer processes. Furthermore, the GT:Er3+/Yb3+ sub-microspheres exhibited remarkable thermal stability and durability under 980 nm laser irradiation and the catalytic studies showed in the presence of laser light of only 1 W input power. The sub-microspheres completely broke down RhB dye into H2O and CO2 in 10 h. This study offers a novel approach to exploit NIR-driven lanthanide materials for LED and photocatalytic applications.