Persistent luminescence of inorganic nanophosphors prepared by wet-chemical synthesis

The synthesis of efficient nanosized persistent luminescence materials remains a challenge for the community. Paradoxically, due to the dependence of the point lattice defects and the persistent luminescence efficiency, the control of the defect formation, favorable when the materials are prepared at high temperatures, normally leads to particle growth and sintering. In this work, efficient nanosized rare earth doped disilicates Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu2+,Dy3+ were synthesized via three different wet-chemical methods taking advantages of the microwave-assisted reduction process as a support step to produce high-quality polycrystalline materials. The crystallite size of the sample showed to be smaller when the decomposition temperature of the precursors is higher and close to the phase formation energy. The excitation VUV spectroscopy indicated that despite being nanocrystalline, the materials optical band gap has just a small difference compared one to another. The reduction of Eu3+ to Eu2+ was successfully obtained, since the f-d interconfigurational transitions of Eu2+ 4f65d1→4f7 emission were observed in the blue region of the spectra. The persistent luminescence efficiency measured through its lasting decay time was close to the commercial materials references and with the advantage of having size control during the synthesis method that can lead to the size dependent applications of photonic materials. [Display omitted] •Synthesis of highly-stable oxide nanophosphors by wet-chemical routes.•Fast conversion of Eu3+ to Eu2+ obtained by microwave-assisted reduction process.•Long-lasting blue persistent luminescence of disilicate nanoparticles.