Abstract
The photoluminescence (PL) spectra, excitation spectra, and PL decay curves of natural, heat-treated, and γ-ray-irradiated thenardites from Ai-Ding Salt Lake, Xinjiang, China, were studied. The natural thenardite under 300 nm excitation showed milk-white luminescence, and the PL spectrum consisted of an extremely broad band with a peak located at approximately 509 nm, spreading over a wide range of UV and visible wavelengths. The excitation spectra, obtained by monitoring the luminescence at 530 nm, consisted of a broad band with a peak located at approximately 235 nm and a flat band spreading over a wide range of UV and visible wavelengths. The PL decay curve of natural thenardite consisted of a fast-decay component with a lifetime of less than 0.1 μs and a slow-decay component with a half-decay time of approximately 0.4 s. The heat treatment of thenardite at 900°C for 20 min reduced the luminescence efficiency to 1/100. The γ-ray irradiation of thenardite reduced the luminescence efficiency to approximately half.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Mr. Rahman Abu Zayed, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, for carrying out the γ-ray irradiation. They also wish to thank Dr. Adrian Finch, University of St Andrews, UK, and Dr. Luis Sánchez-Muñoz, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientiales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Spain, for helpful suggestions regarding this paper. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10764004) and funded by the Scientific Research Program of the Higher Education Institution of Xinjiang, China (Grant No. XJEDU2006I49). This study was subsidized by "The Priority Development Discipline on the Theoretical Physics" of Xinjiang Normal University, China.
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Aierken Sidike, Keyoumu Niyazi, Zhu, HJ. et al. Photoluminescence properties of thenardite from Ai-Ding Salt Lake, Xinjiang, China. Phys Chem Minerals 36, 119–126 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-008-0262-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-008-0262-2