Synthesis of monodisperse spherical core-shell SiO2-SrAl2Si2 O8:Eu2+ phosphors by hydrothermal homogeneous precipitation method

Abstract

Nanocrystalline SrAl2Si2 O8 :Eu2+ phosphor layers were coated on nonaggregated, monodisperse and spherical SiO2 particles using a hydrothermal homogeneous precipitation. After annealing at 1100 °C, core-shell SiO2@SrAl2 Si2 O8 :Eu2+ particles were obtained. They were characterized with x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence techniques. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of SiO2 @SrAl2 Si2 O8 :Eu2+ particles; it indicated that the SrAl2 Si2 O8 :Eu2+ shells on SiO2 particles consisted of hexagonal crystallites. The core-shell phosphors obtained are well-dispersed submicron spherical particles with a narrow size distribution. The thickness of the coated layer is approximately 20–40 nm. Under ultraviolet excitation (361 nm), the particles emit blue light at about 440 nm due to the Eu2+ ions in their shells.