Electrospinning preparation and photoluminescence properties of SrAl2O4:Ce3+ nanowires

One-dimensional monoclinic SrAl2O4:Ce3+ nanowires (NWs) were prepared by the electrospinning method for the first time. By annealing PVP/SrAl2O4:Ce3+ composite nanowires (NWs) with different ratio of PVP (M w ≈ 1300000) to inorganic precursors of the electrospinning solutions, size-controllable NWs were obtained, ranging of 90–180 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and dynamics were employed to characterize the NWs. The results demonstrate that the positions of excitation and emission bands varied uneven with the ratio of PVP to the inorganic precursors and the NWs diameter, which was attributed to the difference of the crystallinity, porosity, and local micro-structures surrounding Ce3+. Two decay time constants were observed for the PL of Ce3+, one faster (1–3 ns) and one slower (10–20 ns), which were attributed to the hole-electron capture on the luminescent ions and isolated Ce ions, respectively. It is interesting to observe that for the shorter decay process, a maximum occurred as the concentration of Ce3+ varied in the range of 1–10 mol%.