Synthesis and characterization of radio and thermoluminescence properties of Sm doped Gd2O3, Gd2O2S and Gd2O2SO4 nanocrystalline phosphors

Abstract

In this study, nanocrystalline Gd2O3:Sm, Gd2O2S:Sm and Gd2O2SO4:Sm phosphors were successfully synthesized through the urea homogeneous precipitation method. Nanocrystalline Gd2O2S:Sm phosphors with two different concentrations of sulfur were prepared. In the first procedure, the weight of sulfur was five times more than Gd2O3 weight (was called sample Gd2O2S:Sm(1)) and in the second procedure, it was equal (was called sample Gd2O2S:Sm(2)). The nanocrystalline powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, radioluminescence and thermoluminescence. The XRD and FT-IR results confirmed that nanocrystalline Gd2O3:Sm, Gd2O2S:Sm and Gd2O2SO4:Sm powders had the cubic, hexagonal and orthorhombic structure in preparation temperatures of 620 °C and 900 °C. The SEM images showed that nanocrystalline Gd2O3:Sm, Gd2O2S:Sm and Gd2O2SO4:Sm powders had a semi-spherical shape with a uniform mean size of about 30 nm in diameter and confirmed the XRD results. The presence of all elements was confirmed in the synthesized samples using EDX spectroscopy. The results showed that the weight percent of sulfur during the preparation of Gd2O2S had an effect on the size, morphology and the luminescence intensity of nanocrystalline Gd2O2S powder. Under X-ray irradiation (40 kV and 40 mA), the emission spectra of nanocrystalline Gd2O3:Sm, Gd2O2S:Sm and Gd2O2SO4:Sm phosphors were studied. The results showed the orange-red emission peaks which were observed at 605 nm were the strongest emission peak for all nanocrystalline Gd2O3:Sm, Gd2O2S:Sm and Gd2O2SO4:Sm powders. This peak was corresponded to the 4G5/2-7H7/2 energy transition of Sm3+ ion. The TL response of Gd2O3:Sm, Gd2O2S:Sm and Gd2O2SO4:Sm after irradiation with different X-ray time exposure exhibited a peak shifting towards the lower temperatures. The glow curve deconvolution method was used to calculate trapping parameters and the obtained results were investigated in detail.