The synthesis and luminescence properties of Bi3+/Eu3+ co-doped Gd2O3 phosphors with high thermal stability and tunable emission via energy transfer

Abstract

In this work, the highly monodisperse (Gd0.99-xBi0.01Eux)2O3 phosphors with spherical morphologies (∼170 nm) are successfully obtained through precursor synthesis via urea-based homogeneous precipitation (UBHP) method, followed by annealing at 1000 °C. The Bi/Eu-doped does not alter the crystal structure, and maintain the cubic structure of the Gd2O3 host. Owing to the Bi3+ occupies two different sites (C2, S6) in Gd2O3 of the cubic phase, the 1S0 → 3P1 transition of Bi3+ has two significant excitation bands (335 nm and 375 nm). By monitoring the excitation at 335 nm and 375 nm, the (Gd0.99-xBi0.01Eux)2O3 phosphors show both Bi3+ (420 nm and 530 nm) and Eu3+ (611 nm) emissions, respectively. The presences of Gd3+ and Bi3+ excitation bands on the PLE spectra by monitoring the Eu3+ emission indicate the Bi3+ → Eu3+ and Gd3+ → Eu3+ energy transfer, respectively, and the energy transfer efficiency is up to 99 %. Meanwhile, the energy transfer mechanism of the (Gd0.99-xBi0.01Eux)2O3 samples is dominated by the dipole-dipole interaction. Under two different excitation wavelengths, the emission intensity varies with the Eu3+ doping content and the quenching concentration is about 3 at%. The calculated value of the critical distance Rc is 12.12 Å, which indicates that the quenching mechanism is mainly caused by the multipole interaction. Meanwhile, the emission color can be tuned though adjusting the Eu3+ content. The temperature-dependent (in the range of 100–500 K) analysis has been obtained, the results indicate the (Gd0.99-xBi0.01Eux)2O3 samples have good thermal stability. The (Gd0.99-xBi0.01Eux)2O3 phosphors developed in this work is expected to be widely used in lighting and optical display applications.