Deposition of luminescent Y2O3:Eu3+ on ferromagnetic mesoporous CoFe2O4@mSiO2 nanocomposites

Abstract

Luminescent Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺ particles have been deposited on the surface of ferromagnetic mesoporous CoFe₂O₄@mSiO₂ nanoparticles by a co-precipitation method, obtaining multifunctional CoFe₂O₄@mSiO₂@Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺ nanocomposites. XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, XPS, N₂-adsorption–desorption, FT-IR, VSM and PL were used to characterized the samples. The results reveal that the nanocomposites display typical mesoporous characteristics with high surface areas (BET), large pore volumes and core–shell structures. The composites show ferromagnetic properties and red luminescence from the ⁵D₀–⁷F₂ transition at 610 nm. The size and the magnetic and luminescence properties of the composites could be tuned by systematically varying the experimental parameters, such as the annealing temperature, the mass ratio of CoFe₂O₄@mSiO₂ to Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺, and the volume of TEOS. A possible quenching mechanism of the luminescent Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺ by the ferromagnetic CoFe₂O₄ is proposed. The high BET and large pore volume may give the composite potential application in controlled drug release.