Issue 22, 2024

Unlocking color-tunable emission of Eu2+-activated phosphors through doping-free exploration of hidden sites

Abstract

While numerous approaches have been devised to optimize the luminescence properties of Eu2+-activated phosphors, the quest for a simple design strategy to achieve color-tunable Eu2+ emission remains a significant challenge. Here, we present a straightforward, doping-free method to tailor the site occupation of Eu2+ and modify its luminescence properties. In the pristine sample, the NaBaB9O15 (NBB) host featuring two cation sites (Na+ and Ba2+), Eu2+ exclusively occupies the Ba2+ site, resulting in blue emission when the NBB:Eu2+ phosphor is synthesized in a H2 reducing atmosphere. When we use CO instead of a H2 reducing atmosphere, impressively, the formation energy required for heterovalent substitution of Na+ by Eu2+ is lowered, leading to the emergence of a distinct green emission band. Significantly, the resultant phosphor NBB:Eu2+@CO exhibits not only a high internal quantum yield of 85.1% and zero-thermal-quenching behavior within the temperature range of 25–200 °C but also wavelength-tunable emission. Benefitting from the multi-color luminescence of the NBB:Eu2+@CO phosphor, its optical applications will no longer be confined to general lighting but extend to anti-counterfeiting and encryption. This study provides a novel design methodology for optimizing the optical properties of Eu2+-activated phosphors.

Graphical abstract: Unlocking color-tunable emission of Eu2+-activated phosphors through doping-free exploration of hidden sites

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Mar 2024
Accepted
11 May 2024
First published
13 May 2024

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2024,12, 8145-8152

Unlocking color-tunable emission of Eu2+-activated phosphors through doping-free exploration of hidden sites

D. Hu, M. Rahman, S. Liu, L. Shen, P. Dai, D. Wen and M. Wu, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2024, 12, 8145 DOI: 10.1039/D4TC01277A

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