Preparation and fluorescence properties of MgAl2O4: Tb3+ nanorod-like phosphors

Abstract

A series of MgAl2O4: x% Tb3+ (x = 1.0–6.0) phosphors was prepared by a hydrothermal-assisted light burning method. The crystal structure, morphology and fluorescence properties of the samples were investigated. The results indicated that when the the hydrothermal and light burning temperatures were determined to be 120 °C and 1100 °C, respectively, the crystallinity for Mg4Al2(OH)14 and NH4Al(OH)2CO3 biphasic precursors is the best, conducive to generating pure phase MgAl2O4 nanorod-like phosphors. The entry of Tb3+ into the MgAl2O4 lattice can cause lattice distortion, but the main structure of the spinel does not change. The main emission peaks for the series of phosphors are located in the green light region of 546 nm. The MgAl2O4: 4.0% Tb3+ phosphor has the highest fluorescence intensity and shows the best colour quality. Its CIE coordinates (x, y), CCT and colour purity are determined to be (0.3171, 0.5290), 5845 K and 53.50%, respectively. The series of MgAl2O4: Tb3+ phosphors exhibits typical cold green light emission and have good application prospects in solid-state display devices.