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Hydrothermal synthesis of luminescent GdVO4:Eu nanoparticles with dispersibility in organic solvents

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Abstract

A general hydrothermal method was developed to prepare colloidal gadolinium orthovanadate nanocrystals by using supercritical water as a green solvent. The spectacular properties of supercritical water is advantageous for synthesizing crystalline and surface-modified luminescent nanoparticles capped with long alkyl chains of organic modifiers on the surface of the particles to make them dispersible in nonpolar solvents. The size of the nanoparticles could be controlled within 10–15 nm. Characterization of the hydrothermal product was accomplished using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis, and electron dispersive X-ray scattering. The photoluminescence characterization showed that there is a strong red emission under UV excitation, which broadens the material’s various applications.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by World Premier International Research Centre-Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR). The authors gratefully acknowledge Tohoku University and Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) for financial support. The authors also gratefully acknowledge Mr. Takamichi Miyazaki for obtaining the EDX and HRTEM results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan

    Varu Singh

  2. Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan

    Varu Singh, Seiichi Takami, Toshihiko Arita & Tadafumi Adschiri

  3. World Premier International Research Center, Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan

    Varu Singh, Nobuaki Aoki, Daisuke Hojo & Tadafumi Adschiri

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  1. Varu Singh
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  2. Seiichi Takami
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  3. Nobuaki Aoki
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  4. Daisuke Hojo
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  5. Toshihiko Arita
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  6. Tadafumi Adschiri
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Correspondence to Varu Singh.

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Singh, V., Takami, S., Aoki, N. et al. Hydrothermal synthesis of luminescent GdVO4:Eu nanoparticles with dispersibility in organic solvents. J Nanopart Res 16, 2378 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-014-2378-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-014-2378-2

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