Luminescence Intensity Enhancement of Copper Doped Hydronium Alunite Synthesized under Hydrothermal Conditions Using Sulfates Solution

Abstract

A novel phosphor, copper doped hydronium alunite ((H3O)Al3(SO4)2(OH)6:Cu), exhibiting a blue photoluminescence peak at a wavelength of 420 nm was successfully synthesized from aluminum and copper sulfates solution under hydrothermal condition (240 °C, 60 min). The measurement of XRD revealed that the obtained products were single phase with a crystal structure of (H3O)Al3(SO4)2(OH)6. Luminescence intensity of (H3O)Al3(SO4)2(OH)6:Cu synthesized from sulfates solution was 6.2 times higher than that from an aluminum nitrate solution mixed with an elemental sulfur and a copper nitrate solution. The increase of luminescence intensity was resulted from an improvement of the crystallinity of (H3O)Al3(SO4)2(OH)6.