Particle size-related limitations of persistent phosphors based on the doped Y3Al2Ga3O12 system

Vitalii Boiko,Cristina Leonelli,Dariusz Hreniak,Marta Markowska,Cecilia Mortalò,Federica Ursi,Maria Luisa Saladino,Francesco Armetta,Zhengfa Dai,Giorgio Nasillo

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-80335-9

Abstract

Co-doped Ce3+, Cr3+ and Pr3+ yttrium–aluminium–gallium garnet powders of various sizes were obtained by co-precipitation method. The microstructure and morphology were investigated by XRPD, TEM and gas porosimetry. The luminescence properties were studied by excitation and emission spectra, quantum yield and decay times. Thermoluminescence measurements were performed to evaluate the activation energy, traps redistribution and frequency factor. Limitation in the energy transfer between dopant ions in the small particles, traps depth and surface defects were considered and investigated as responsible for the quenching of persistent luminescence. The phosphors annealed at 1100 °C show the optimal persistent luminescence and nano-particle size.

Highlights

Co-doped Ce3+, Cr3+ and Pr3+ yttrium–aluminium–gallium garnet powders of various sizes were obtained by co-precipitation method
This study shows the correlation occurring between the microstructure, the particle size and Persistent luminescence (PersL) properties
It was confirmed that the optical properties of YAGG:Ce3+,Cr3+,Pr3+ nanophosphors are significantly affected by the annealing temperature

Summary

Introduction

Co-doped Ce3+, Cr3+ and Pr3+ yttrium–aluminium–gallium garnet powders of various sizes were obtained by co-precipitation method. The most recent studies are devoted to the nanophosphors emitting in red and near-infrared (NIR) regions[2,13,14,15,16] Phosphors with such properties may be obtained by co-doping materials with Cr3+ and other trivalent ions, but still the intensity and duration of PersL in the red region cannot compete with green and blue ones[14,15,17,18]. Even if systematic studies have been carried out for microsized samples prepared by solid-state reactions, the size effect on the PersL is not well known in nano and sub-micron sized p articles[1,5] For this reason, the synthesis of enough high quality doped-YAGG nanophosphors is still a challenge and the current subject of research. The concentration of Al(NO3)[3] was 0.5 mol L−1

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