Sol–gel preparation and luminescence properties of nanophosphors Y2−xTbxSiO5 derived from in situ assembling hybrid precursors

Using rare earth coordination polymers with salicylic acid as precursors for the luminescence species in Y2SiO5: Tb3+, with polyacrylamide (PAM) as dispersing media and fuel, Y2−xTbxSiO5 with different doping content of terbium ions (x=0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10, 0.12, 0.16 and 0.20, respectively) were synthesized by the in situ assembly of hybrid precursors. X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscope show that these materials have the nanometer size of 80–120nm. These nanometer materials exhibit strong green luminescence at 542nm. For the higher Tb3+ concentration, a cross-relaxation process between Tb3+ ions results in the quenching of the corresponding 5D3 emission.