Sol–Gel Synthesis and Yellow Luminescent Properties of Zn2SiO4 :V Nanophosphor Materials

Abstract

Pure Zn2SiO4 and Vanadium doped Zn2SiO4 green nanophosphor materials were synthesized using sol–gel method and thermally annealed at 1500 °C. The structural, morphology and optical properties were characterized using various techniques; X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HTEM), and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). XRD results shown β-Zn2SiO4 phase with triclinic structure that obtained after the heat treatment of samples at 1500 °C. The PL spectrum of V-Zn2SiO4 shows an intensive emission band in the visible region centered at 526 nm. This band is related to presence of vanadium in the interfaces between Zn2SiO4 nanoparticles and the host matrix, SiO2. The interesting of these nanophosphors were attributed for its capability of showing color-tunable emissions in visible region under a single-wavelength excitation.