Europium doped silicate phosphors: Synthetic and characterization techniques

Department of Chemistry, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak 124001, Haryana, India

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2017, 8 (5), pp 656-672

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2017.7011

Publication Date (Web): Apr 04, 2017

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: devjakhar@gmail.com

Abstract

In this review article, different synthetic procedures and characterization techniques used for the development of materials are discussed briefly. The stability and high luminous intensity of silicate materials makes them practically important in the field of white light emitting diodes (WLEDs). During the experimental designing of our research, we have understood carefully the theoretical and methodological strategy regarding the synthesis of phosphors and then, a large number of silicate-based luminescent materials have been prepared using sol-gel technology. Among them, a series of silicate materials having composition M_(2-x)Eu_xSi₂O₇ (M = Y, Gd, La and x = 0.03 moles) have been described in this review prepared with sol-gel process. Intense peak in europium (III) doped M₂Si₂O₇ silicates originate from ⁵D₀→⁷F₂ transition of Eu³⁺ ion available in crystal lattices. X-ray diffraction pattern have triclinic structure for Y₂Si₂O₇ and Gd₂Si₂O₇ silicate phosphors. However, hexagonal and monoclinic structures are obtained for La₂Si₂O₇ material at different temperatures employed for further annealing. Transmission electron microscopic analysis is used to study the morphology and particle size of prepared phosphors. Excellent luminescence response of these silicate phosphors make them suitable for photonic applications and also open up new avenues for solid-state lighting, cathode ray tubes, fluorescent lamps and scintillators etc.

Keywords

Silicate, M₂Si₂O₇, europium, luminescence, sol-gel, crystal lattice, solid state lighting.