Scalable synthesis of ytterbium and erbium codoped calcium molybdate phosphors as upconversion luminescent thermometer

Abstract

AbstractLuminescent thermometry is a noninvasive method of temperature detection with high sensitivity and response speed. The present study demonstrated the process‐intensified synthesis of ytterbium and erbium codoped calcium molybdate phosphors (CaMoO4:Yb3+/Er3+). The experiment involved the initial premixing of the precursors using a high‐gravity rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor and subsequent calcination processing. The pronounced mass transfer and micromixing of the reactants in the RPB facilitated the scalable and controllable synthesis of CaMoO4:Yb3+/Er3+ particles with submicron sizes and regular morphologies. The CaMoO4:Yb3+/Er3+ particles exhibited a bright‐green emission with temperature‐dependent luminescence characteristics under 980 nm laser irradiation. Furthermore, the maximum absolute sensitivity was determined to be 0.02837 K−1. These results indicated that the synthesized product was a suitable candidate for application in upconversion luminescent thermometers capable of temperature sensing at the microscale.