Synthesis and Luminescence Properties of YVO4:Eu 3+ Nanocrystals by a Sol-Gel Method

Abstract

YVO4:Eu3+ nanocrystals were synthesized using a sol-gel method which citric acid was used as complexing agent and ethylene glycol was used as coupler. In order to study the influence of heat treating temperature and time on structure and luminescence properties of YVO4:Eu3 nanocrystals, the dry gels were heated at 400 oC, 500 oC and 600 oC for 1 h, 600 o C for 3 h, respectively. X-ray diffraction, SEM and luminescence spectra were used to characterize the structure and luminescence properties. The results of XRD indicate that YVO4:Eu3+ nanocrystals with tetragonal zircon were obtained. The average crystallite sizes of the samples increase with the increasing heat treating temperatures. The results of excitation and emission spectra show that the broad excitation band is assigned to charge transfer band of Eu-O and V-O, the emissions peaks are from 5D0-7FJ transitions. The emission intensities increase with increasing heat treating temperature and time. The local environments of Eu3+ ions in the samples prepared at different conditions are discussed.