Role of NH4Cl as Flux on Photoluminescence Properties of Ca1-xZrO3:Eux (x = 0.05) Synthesized by Solution Combustion Route

Abstract

CaZrO3 ceramics exhibits high chemical, thermal and structural stability. However, its application as a host for various luminophores/activators has not been clearly explored. In present study, CaZrO3 doped with Eu3+, as a potential orange-red phosphor and the effect of NH4Cl as flux during combustion synthesis is investigated. Ca1-xZrO3:Eux (x = 0.05) nanophosphor was prepared through a low temperature, one pot solution combustion synthesis approach using glycine as fuel. Various wt.% of NH4Cl (wt.% = 0, 1, 3, 5, 7) as flux added to the reaction mixture and combustion reaction was performed. X-ray diffraction results showed that the addition of flux has significant effect on the crystallite size and the crystallinity of Ca1-xZrO3:Eux (x = 0.05) phosphor. From SEM morphology, the particles were found to be significantly agglomerated. The extent of agglomeration varies with varying the wt.% of flux. The photoluminescence excitation and emission spectra were recorded under similar condition to evaluate the effect of flux on the optical properties. Interestingly, the amount of flux was found to have significant effect on the photoluminescence emission characteristics. The photoluminescence intensity was found to be the maximum when the flux used was 5 wt.% and further increase in flux amount the photoluminescence intensity decreases. The mechanistic aspects of effect of flux on the photoluminescence were also discussed.