Synthesis and luminescence properties of REAl 3(BO 3) 4:Eu 3+/Tb 3+ (RE = Y, Gd) phosphors from sol–gel composition of hybrid precursors

Abstract

Starting from rare earth nitrates and tri- n-butyl borate, Eu 3+/Tb 3+ doped REAl 3(BO 3) 4 (RE = Y, Gd) phosphors were synthesized by a modified sol–gel process derived from multi-component hybrid precursors. The microstructure and morphology of the phosphors were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electronic microscope; which indicates that these phosphors show good crystalline state and particle size of 100–200 nm order, specially presenting the novel cubic micro-rod patterns. The excitation spectra show a strong spectral band in narrow ultraviolet region of 200–300 nm, while there are still some apparent weak absorption in long-wavelengths region of 300–500 nm. The corresponding emission spectra indicate that these crystalline phosphors exhibit photoluminescence of the characteristic transitions of RE 3+. The effects of doping concentration on emission intensities were examined, suggesting the quenching concentration of different activated ions in different phosphors. In addition, luminescence intensity presented by the same RE 3+ ion doped concentration among different systems was also compared.