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Title: Sol-gel preparation and characterization of Er3+ doped TiO2 luminescent nanoparticles

Journal Article · · Materials Research Bulletin
 [1]; ;  [1]; ;
  1. Department of Physics, University of South Africa, PO Box 392, 0003 (South Africa)

Highlights: • Sol-gel derived Er{sup 3+} doped TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles for potential use in solar cells and bio imaging. • Influence of Er{sup 3+} doping into TiO{sub 2} with various Er{sup 3+} concentration on structural, optical, and luminescence properties. • Down-and up-conversion luminescence behaviour of Er{sup 3+} doped titanium dioxide. - Abstract: The present paper reports on down-and up-conversion luminescence behaviour of sol-gel derived erbium doped titanium dioxide with anatase structure. Through combined structural, optical and electron microscope analysis, effective and influence of Er{sup 3+} doping into TiO{sub 2} lattice has been demonstrated using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and optical reflectance spectra. XRD results showed only anatase diffraction peaks of TiO{sub 2}, indicating the formation of a pure anatase phase even after Er{sup 3+} incorporation into TiO{sub 2} lattice. Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) confirmed that the synthesized TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles are polycrystalline in nature which correlated well with XRD findings. Upon excitation at 320 nm, two down-conversion contributions at 378 nm and 435 nm attributed to indirect band gap and defect-related emissions, respectively were observed from both pure and Er{sup 3+} doped TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles. On the other hand, strong green up-conversion emission centred at 544 nm ascribed to {sup 4}S{sub 3/2 }→ {sup 4}I{sub 15/2} transition of Er{sup 3+} was observed under 980 nm laser excitation for all Er{sup 3+} doped TiO{sub 2} samples. This result analysis brings insight on understanding of structural, optical and luminescence properties of Er{sup 3+} doped TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles for use in solar cells and bio imaging devices.

OSTI ID:
22805358
Journal Information:
Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 108; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2017 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0025-5408
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English