Abstract
Microsphere of rare earth free phosphor,Zn3V2O8, with broadband yellowish white emission was synthesized by combustion route and compared with the hydrothermal, sol-gel, and solid state reaction methods. The phosphor samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. UV-visible absorption and photoluminescence (PL) emission and excitation spectra were investigated for these phosphors.Zn3V2O8phosphor containing 10 mol% of H3BO3flux exhibited enhanced PL emission showing broadband from 450 nm to 750 nm. Effect of stoichiometry of Zn and V on the host lattice and its effect on the PL emission spectra were studied. Series of Mg3V2O8,Ca3V2O8, and Sr3V2O8phosphors were also synthesized and compared to theZn3V2O8phosphor in terms of PL emission and internal quantum yield, and it was found thatZn3V2O8is the most efficient phosphor among the other phosphors studied with quantum yield of 60%. The visible light irradiated photocatalytic activity of these phosphors was investigated and it was found that the hydrothermalZn3V2O8exhibited enhanced activity.
Highlights
Vanadates have attracted much attention because of their rich structural chemistry which adapts to various structural forms like tetrahedral, square-pyramidal, and octahedral coordination environments in various oxidation states
Zn3V2O8 consists of orthorhombic crystal structure with Cmca space group
The highest rate of Methylene Blue (MB) degradation of the hydrothermal sample might be ascribed to a large surface area of the sample as shown in Table 1 which is very similar to the results described by Shi et al [10]; they have carried out the photocatalytic experiments for the samples treated at low temperatures
Summary
Vanadates have attracted much attention because of their rich structural chemistry which adapts to various structural forms like tetrahedral, square-pyramidal, and octahedral coordination environments in various oxidation states. International Journal of Photoenergy structures such as wires, fibers, rods, ribbons, or sheets of vanadate based compounds are typically attainable by a hydrothermal reaction of vanadium precursors in the presence of long chain alkylamines [10, 18]. Such reactions usually proceed for a prolonged duration (tens of hours to days). Motivated by the broadband emission of Zn3(VO4) phosphor, the structural, morphological, and photoluminescence characterization of M3V2O8 (M = Zn, Mg, Ca, and Sr) synthesized via the combustion method has been investigated, and comparison has been made to the hydrothermal, solgel, and solid state samples. Photocatalytic properties of these phosphors for the decomposition of organic pollution have been investigated and compared with each other
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