Synthesis and luminescence properties of REAl3(BO3)4:EU3+/Tb3+ (RE = Y, Gd) phosphors from sol-gel composition of hybrid precursors

Starting from rare earth nitrates and tri-n-butyl borate, Eu3+/Tb3+ doped REAl3(BO3)(4) (RE = Y, Gd) phosphors were synthesized by a modified sot-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 RE3+. 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 RE3+ ion doped concentration among different systems was also compared. (c) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.