Sol–gel preparation and luminescence properties of nanophosphors Y2−Tb SiO5 derived from in situ assembling hybrid precursors

Abstract Using rare earth coordination polymers with salicylic acid as precursors for the luminescence species in Y 2 SiO 5 : Tb 3+ , with polyacrylamide (PAM) as dispersing media and fuel, Y 2− x Tb x SiO 5 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 80–120 nm. These nanometer materials exhibit strong green luminescence at 542 nm. For the higher Tb 3+ concentration, a cross-relaxation process between Tb 3+ ions results in the quenching of the corresponding 5 D 3 emission.