Room temperature synthesis of highly luminescent Eu and Tb-doped hexagonal-phase YPO nanoparticles with tunable emission

Luminescent lanthanide nanoparticles are usually prepared at high temperatures, which makes these materials costly. Here, we are preparing one such material in a simple way at room temperature. We were able to prepare green and red emissive nanoparticles from Tb 3+ and Eu 3+ doped YPO 4 hexagonal phase nanoparticles. Tb 3+ to Eu 3+ energy transfer also occurs and by varying their ratio we tuned the emission color from green to yellow to red. We were able to increase the quantum yield 10-fold by doping Li + ions into this system, while still maintaining the h-phase, even though this phase is reported to be less emissive. Luminescent lanthanide nanoparticles are usually prepared at high temperatures, which makes these materials costly. Room temperature synthesis will make the material cheap.