A considerable improvement of long-persistent luminescence in LiLuSiO4:Pr3+ phosphors by Sm3+ co-doping for optical tagging applications. Issue 45 (14th November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yan, Shao; Liang, Yanjie; Zhang, Yi; Lou, Bibo; Liu, Jingwei; Chen, Dongxun; Miao, Shihai; Ma, Chonggeng
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 10:Issue 45(2022)
• Page Start: 17343
• Page End: 17352
• Publication Date: 2022-11-14
• Subjects: Materials -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Optical materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Electronics -- Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d2tc03646k
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7526

Abstract

Abstract : A considerable enhancement of UVC afterglow intensity and decay time has been realized in LiLuSiO4 :Pr 3+ phosphors by Sm 3+ co-doping. Abstract : Solar-blind ultraviolet-C (UVC; 200–280 nm) luminescent materials have exhibited great potential for wide applications in photomedicine and photochemistry due to the unique spectral features of UVC light. However, it is still a challenging work to develop persistent phosphors emitting in the UVC spectral region owing to the lack of suitable host materials and emitting centers. Herein, we report a series of LiLuSiO4 :Pr 3+, Sm 3+ UVC persistent phosphors that can be charged by a 254 nm UV lamp or a high-energy X-ray beam giving rise to long-lasting UVC light emission peaking at 280 nm. More importantly, a considerable enhancement of UVC afterglow intensity and decay time has been achieved by Sm 3+ co-doping because the Sm 3+ ions can act as effective electron traps, which has been verified by the spectroscopic investigations and first-principles calculations. On top of this, narrowband ultraviolet-B (NB-UVB) persistent luminescence with a line emission at 313 nm has also been realized by introducing Gd 3+ into LiLuSiO4 :Pr 3+, Sm 3+ persistent phosphors based on persistent energy transfer from Pr 3+ to Gd 3+ . Considering that the UVC and NB-UVB persistent luminescence can fully avoid severe interference from ambient light, the as-prepared LiLuSiO4 :Pr 3+, Sm 3+ and Li(Lu, Gd)SiO4 :Pr 3+, Sm 3+ persistent phosphors can find promising applications as invisible identification taggants in a bright environment.