Controllable synthesis and luminescence property of LnPO4 (Ln = La, Gd, Y) nanocrystals

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 38 - 44
• Main Authors: Lin, Songzhu, Dong, Xiangting, Jia, Ruokun, Yuan, Yanlin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 2010
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Luminescent Property; LaPO4; YPO4; CTAB; Magnetic Dipole Transition
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-009-9866-7

Lanthanide orthophosphate LnPO
4
(Ln = La, Gd, Y) nanocrystals with different crystalline structures and morphologies were synthesized successfully by a hydrothermal method under mild conditions. The obtained LaPO
4
have a monoclinic or hexagonal structure with varying the temperature. However, as to GdPO
4
and YPO
4
, the temperature has no obvious effect on their structures. By tuning the amount of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), the morphology and size of all samples can be controlled easily and effectively. Noticeably, the structure of YPO
4
can also be controlled by using the CTAB. A systematic study of the photoluminescence in Ln
3+
-doped lanthanide phosphates shows that the luminescent properties of these nanophosphors are strongly dependent on their crystal structures and morphologies.