Title
Neutralizing the Charge Imbalance Problem in Eu3+-Activated BaAl2O4Nanophosphors: Theoretical Insights and Experimental Validation Considering K+ Codoping
Author
Rituparna Chatterjee, Subhajit Saha, Dipayan Sen, Karamjyoti Panigrahi, Uttam Kumar Ghorai, Gopes Chandra Das, Kalyan Kumar Chattopadhyay
Year
2018
Journal
ACS Omega
Abstract
In recent years, rare-earth-doped nanophosphors have attracted great attention in the field of luminescent materials for advanced solid-state lighting and high-resolution display applications. However, the low efficiency of concurrent red phosphors creates a major bottleneck for easy commercialization of these devices. In this work, intense red-light-emitting K+-codoped BaAl2O4:Eu3+ nanophosphors having an average crystallite size of 54 nm were synthesized via a modified sol–gel method. The derived nanophosphors exhibit strong red emission produced by the 5D0 → 7FJ (J = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) transitions of Eu3+ upon UV and low-voltage electron beam excitation. Comparative photoluminescence (PL) analysis is executed for Eu3+-activated and K+-coactivated BaAl2O4:Eu3+ nanophosphors, demonstrating remarkable enhancement in PL intensity as well as thermal stability due to K+ codoping. The origin of this PL enhancement is also analyzed from first-principles calculations using density functional theory. Achievement of charge compensation with the addition of a K+ coactivator plays an important role in increasing the radiative lifetime and color purity of the codoped nanophosphors. Obtained results substantially approve the promising prospects of this nanophosphor in the promptly growing field of solid-state lighting and field emission display devices.
Instrument
FP-8300
Keywords
Fluorescence, Photoluminescence, Nanostructures, Optical properties, Chemical stability, Thermal stability, Materials