The synthesis and multicolor luminescence of lanthanide doped Vernier lutetium oxyfluorides

Abstract

Monodisperse undoped and Ln³⁺ (Ln = Eu, Tb) doped Vernier Lu₅O₄F₇ nanorods (denoted as V-LuOF) were synthesized via a facile two-step hydrothermal method followed by heat treatment for the first time. The phases, morphologies, sizes and photoluminescence properties of the as-prepared samples were investigated in detail. Under ultraviolet excitation, the V-LuOF:Ln³⁺ (Ln = Eu, Tb) nanorods showed their characteristic f–f emissions and also showed red and green emissions, respectively. Moreover, by co-doping Tb³⁺ and Eu³⁺ ions into the V-LuOF host and tuning their relative concentration ratio, multicolor tunable emissions have been achieved under 378 nm excitation. This result indicates that V-LuOF nanorods have potential applications in field-emission displays.