Oxalic Acid-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis and Luminescent of Hexagonal NaYF4: Ln3+ (Ln = Sm, Eu, Yb/Er) Micro/Nanoplates

Hexagonal NaYF4:Ln(3+) micro/nanoplates were successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method using oxalic acid as a shape modifier. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) have been used to study the morphologies and crystal structure of the products. The effects of the pH values and the molar ratio of oxalic acid to NaOH on the crystal growth have been investigated in detail. The time-dependent experiments have been conducted to investigate the morphology evolution process, and based on the results, a possible growth mechanism was proposed. The photoluminescence properties of 5mol% Eu3+ and 3mol% Sm3+ doped NaYF4 and 20mol% Yb3+/2 mol% Er3+ codoped NaYF4 micro/nanoplates were investigated. The experimental results showed that NaYF4 : Ln(3+) micro/nanoplates have excellent luminescence and can be potential application in the field of light display systems, lasers, and optoelectronic devices.