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Morphology-controllable synthesis, energy transfer and luminescence properties of Ce3+/Tb3+/Eu3+-doped CaF2 microcrystals

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Abstract

CaF2:Ln3+ (Ln = Ce, Tb, Eu) phosphors with highly uniform shapes have been successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method directly. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence (PL) and lifetime. The results indicated that the pH values, organic additive and reaction time have a significant effect on the morphology and dimensions of CaF2 microcrystals and the possible formation mechanism was also proposed. Furthermore, the energy transfer from Ce3+ to Tb3+ and from Tb3+ to Eu3+ and from Ce3+ to Tb3+ to Eu3+ was observed and the corresponding mechanisms were discussed in detail. The CaF2:Ln3+ phosphors may have potential optical applications in near-UV and violet LEDs.

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Acknowledgements

This project is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51302229 and 51302228), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (XDJK2016C147 and XDJK2015B019) and the Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Scholars, Ministry of Education of China (46th).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, No. 2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, People’s Republic of China

    Bei Zhao, Dingyi Shen, Qinyue Tan, Shanshan Hu & Jun Yang

  2. Faculty of Materials and Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, People’s Republic of China

    Jianfeng Tang

  3. School of Mathematics and Physics, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, 400065, People’s Republic of China

    Xianju Zhou

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  1. Bei Zhao
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  2. Dingyi Shen
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  3. Qinyue Tan
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  4. Jianfeng Tang
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Correspondence to Shanshan Hu or Jun Yang.

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Zhao, B., Shen, D., Tan, Q. et al. Morphology-controllable synthesis, energy transfer and luminescence properties of Ce3+/Tb3+/Eu3+-doped CaF2 microcrystals. J Mater Sci 52, 5857–5870 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-0822-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-0822-2

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