Structural and optical properties of chromium doped zinc gallate long persistent phosphor prepared by surfactant assisted hydrothermal method

Abstract

Abstract Herein, CTAB surfactant aided hydrothermal reaction was carried for preparing Cr3+ doped ZnGa2O4. Urea was used as fuel to continue the reaction. By fixing Cr3+ ions conc. to 0.5 mol%, the molar ratio of CTAB was varied. We used XRD, TEM, FTIR, PL, UV-VIS spectroscopy, decay kinetics, and afterglow decay experiments to characterize the samples. XRD data suggested a cubic phase matching with JCPDS card no. 00-038-1240. TEM images confirmed the formation of nanoparticles within the range 20-80 nm. The estimated band gap was around 4.8 eV. Excited by 227 nm UV lights elaborated a wide emission band extended from 600 to 800 nm and peaking at 696 nm. The afterglow decay curve showed a long persistent signal up to 1 hour after ceasing offthe excitation source.