Formation mechanism and its photo-luminescent behavior of Lu2Ti2O7 nano-plates composed of single crystal grains

Abstract

Lu₂Ti₂O₇ nano-plates are successfully synthesized via a molten salt technique and first reported in this paper. The as-prepared Lu₂Ti₂O₇ nano-plates are actually composed of single crystals with a typical cubic fluorite structure. The diameters of the fabricated Lu₂Ti₂O₇ nano-plates range from 500–1000 nm with thicknesses up to several tens of nano-meters. The possible growth mechanism is suggested as ‘shape memory effect’, which is weakened significantly by the substitution Lu₂O₃ for Lu(NO₃)₃. Finally, we systematically investigate the photoluminescence properties of Lu₂Ti₂O₇ nano-particles with various morphologies.