Surfactant effect on and luminescence tuning of lanthanide-doped ScPO4·2H2O microparticlesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5tc03051j

Herein we report the effect of surfactant molecules, i.e. , trisodium citrate, on the morphology, size evolution, as well as the growth mechanism of ScPO 4 ·2H 2 O:Ln (Ln = Ce/Tb/Eu, Yb/Er) microparticles, which are synthesized via a one-pot hydrothermal method. The up- and down-conversion photoluminescence and dynamics of ScPO 4 ·2H 2 O:Ln microparticles, including the decay time, quantum efficiency, and the energy transfer mechanism with different dopants, are further investigated. Finally, a potential application of these materials as luminescent display inks is demonstrated. UV-excited luminescence patterns of 'IAM' generated using ScPO 4 ·2H 2 O:Ce,Tb(4%,12%) and ScPO 4 ·2H 2 O:Ce,Eu(4%,12%) microparticles as green and red display materials, respectively.