Abstract
Eu(III) titanate nanotubes and nanowires have been successfully synthesized by solvothermal method using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as removable templates. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis. It is demonstrated that CNTs are fully coated with an amorphous Eu 2(TiO 3) 3 layer, which is about 10 nm thick and almost continuous and uniform. After the Eu 2(TiO 3) 3/CNTs composites have been calcined at various temperatures, Eu 2(TiO 3) 3 nanotubes and nanowires are obtained by removing the CNTs templates. The diameter of the Eu 2(TiO 3) 3 nanotubes is 40–60 nm, which is consistent with that of CNTs. Both nanotubes and nanowires have a narrow distribution of diameters. The fluorescence properties of the Eu 2(TiO 3) 3 nanotubes and nanowires calcined at various temperatures have been investigated. The results indicate that when the Eu 2(TiO 3) 3/CNTs composites were calcined at 700 °C for 5 h, the Eu 2(TiO 3) 3 nanotubes obtained can be effectively excited by 395 nm light, and exhibit strong red emission around 616 nm. It is very interesting to discover that a few residual carbons doped in Eu 2(TiO 3) 3 nanotubes and many oxygen vacancies could promote the intensity of red emission peak of Eu 3+ ions. In addition, Eu 2(TiO 3) 3 nanowires calcined at 900 °C for 5 h also have a strong red emission peak due to many oxygen vacancies and defects formed on the surface of the nanowires and inside them.
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