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Structural, optical and thermoluminescence study of annealed zinc aluminate spinel nanophosphor

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Abstract

The paper is focused on the structural, optoelectronic properties, and thermoluminescence behaviour of annealed zinc aluminate nanophosphor prepared by green synthesis. The samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier Transform Infra-red (FT-IR), UV–visible absorption, photoluminescence (PL), Time resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy (TRPL), and thermoluminescence (TL). The PXRD and Rietveld analysis showed formation of pure zinc aluminate with Fd-3 m space group with average crystallite size ~ 22 nm. FT-IR spectra presented formation of pure zinc aluminate spinel and presence of Al–Zn, Al–O, and Zn–O bonds. UV–visible absorption spectra revealed the involvement of transition bands corresponding to oxygen 2p orbitals, zinc 4s and aluminium 3s orbitals. PL and TRPL spectra revealed intense blue emission at ~ 440 nm with 1.34 ms lifetime of annealed zinc aluminate phosphor at 1100 °C. The Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) co-ordinates, CCT (co-related colour temperature), and 98% colour purity of annealed samples was found. Further, the thermoluminescence behaviour of prepared zinc aluminate spinel nanophosphor was studied after ultraviolet irradiation at different radiation exposure time (5–25 min). The thermoluminescence (TL) glow curve exhibits only a peak at 422 K for annealed samples. With longer irradiation time, peak was enhanced and maximum intensity was found for 20 min exposure time. In addition, glow curve peak is shifted to lower temperature side with irradiation time. The TL mechanism is discussed by calculating activation energy, trap depth and other kinetic parameters. The 2nd order kinetics is followed by the samples. The study suggested potential applications of synthesized annealed zinc aluminate phosphor in nano size regime with high colour purity and warm light emission as efficient luminescent material for solid-state lighting and dosimetry applications.

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The datasets that support in findings of the study are available from the any corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Amity School of Applied Sciences, Amity University, Haryana, 122413, India

    Vikas & Vikas Lahariya

  2. Department of Physics, Bhilai Institute of Science and Technology, Durg, Chhattisgarh, 491001, India

    Raunak Kumar Tamrakar

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were by V, VL and RKT. V and VL contributed significantly to analysis and manuscript preparation. The first draft of the manuscript was written by V and VL, and all authors commented on previous version of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Vikas Lahariya or Raunak Kumar Tamrakar.

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Vikas, Lahariya, V. & Tamrakar, R.K. Structural, optical and thermoluminescence study of annealed zinc aluminate spinel nanophosphor. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 2117 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-11519-y

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