A novel synthesis route to Y₂O₃:Eu nanotubes

Abstract

Large-scale Y2O3:Eu nanotubes have been successfully fabricated by an improved sol–gel method within the nanochannels of porous anodic alumina templates. In this method, yttrium nitrate, europium nitrate and urea were used as precursors, yttrium nitrate and europium nitrate were acting as sources of europium and yttrium ions, and urea offered a basic medium through its hydrolysis. X-ray diffraction techniques, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and selected-area electron diffraction were used to characterize the Y2O3:Eu nanotubes obtained. It is found that the prepared Y2O3:Eu nanotubes can be indexed as a polycrystalline cubic structure and their outer diameters are about 50–80 nm, with the thickness of the tube wall estimated to be around 5 nm. The emission peaks of the as-prepared Y2O3:Eu nanotubes are broader than those of bulk Y2O3:Eu because of the disordering of the crystal phase possibly induced by the increase of the surface/volume ratio in the nanotubes.

Luminescence of Nanocrystalline Erbium‐Doped Yttria

“…[5] A number of different routes, such as the solution-based sol-gel process, gel combustion synthesis, emulsion technique, coprecipitation method, hydrothermal method, template method, electrochemical method, or their combinations have been used to synthesize RE-doped Y 2 O 3 nanomaterials. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] In this work, we employed a large-scale and facile molten salt synthesis (MSS) process for the first time to prepare single-crystalline Er 3þ -doped luminescent nanostructures in a mixing salt medium at 500 8C. [34,35] This process allows us to readily make Y 2 O 3 nanocrystals with various Er 3þ doping levels, and its intrinsic scalability, flexibility and simplicity render it attractive for the preparation of a wide range of RE-doped luminescent nanomaterials.…”

Facile synthesis and characterization of sheet-like Y2O3:Eu3+ microcrystals

“…For successful application, phosphors must have homogeneous particle shape and size distributions, high chemical purity and low production costs [5]. For this reason, various chemical protocols have been developed for preparing high-quality Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ materials with uniform crystal structure and morphology, including microspheres [6,7], nanoparticles [8,9], one-dimensional nanostructures [10][11][12], thin solid films, etc. However, few reports on the synthesis of sheet-like Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ microcrystals have been published to the best of our knowledge.…”

Shape‐Induced Enhanced Luminescent Properties of Red Phosphors: Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu3+ Nanotubes

“…[11][12][13][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] If materials were fabricated in the form of a one-dimensional nanostructure, they would be expected to be highly functionalized materials as a result of both shapespecific and quantum confinement effects, acting as optically functional host materials. Based on this viewpoint, a possible way to improve the performance of current phosphors is to synthesize them in the form of 1D nanostructures.…”

“…Nanotubes possess especially large surface area and high surface energy owing to their inner and outer surfaces, which could lead to a high degree of disorder and correspondent lower symmetry of crystal field around Eu 3+ ions. [16,17] This lower symmetry of the crystal field will result in a higher relative intensity of 5 …”