Title: Eu³⁺-doped wide band gap Zn₂SnO₄ semiconductor nanoparticles: Structure and luminescence

Abstract

Nanocrystalline Zn₂SnO₄ powders doped with Eu³⁺ ions were synthesized via a mechanochemical solid-state reaction method followed by postannealing in air at 1200 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies provide convincing evidence for the incorporation of Eu³⁺ ions into the host matrix on noncentrosymmetric sites of the cubic inverse spinel lattice. Microstructural analysis shows that the crystalline grain size decreases with the addition of Eu³⁺. Formation of a nanocrystalline Eu₂Sn₂O₇ secondary phase is also observed. Luminescence spectra of Eu³⁺-doped samples show several emissions, including narrow-band magnetic dipole emission at 595 nm and electric dipole emission at 615 nm of the Eu³⁺ ions. Excitation spectra and lifetime measurements suggest that Eu³⁺ ions are incorporated at only one symmetry site. According to the crystal field theory, it is assumed that Eu³⁺ ions participate at octahedral sites of Zn²⁺ or Sn⁴⁺ under a weak crystal field, rather than at the tetrahedral sites of Zn2+, because of the high octahedral stabilization energy for Eu³⁺. Activation of symmetry forbidden (IR-active and silent) modes is observed in the Raman scattering spectra of both pure and doped samples, indicating a disorder of the cation sublattice of Zn₂SnO₄ nanocrystallites. These results weremore » further supported by the first principle lattice dynamics calculations. The spinel-type Zn₂SnO₄ shows effectiveness in hosting Eu³⁺ ions, which could be used as a prospective green/red emitter. As a result, this work also illustrates how sustainable and simple preparation methods could be used for effective engineering of material properties.« less

Authors:

Dimitrievska, Mirjana ^[1]; Ivetić, Tamara B. ^[2]; Litvinchuk, Alexander P. ^[3]; Fairbrother, Andrew ^[4]; Miljević, Bojan B. ^[2]; Štrbac, Goran R. ^[2]; Rodríguez, Alejandro Perez ^[4]; Lukić-Petrović, Svetlana R. ^[2]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Barcelona (Spain)
2. Univ. of Novi Sad, Novi Sad (Serbia)
3. Univ. of Houston, Houston, TX (United States)
4. Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Barcelona (Spain)

Publication Date:

Wed Aug 03 00:00:00 EDT 2016

Research Org.:

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office

OSTI Identifier:

1330001

Report Number(s):

NREL/JA-5900-67318
Journal ID: ISSN 1932-7447

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Journal of Physical Chemistry. C

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 120; Journal Issue: 33; Journal ID: ISSN 1932-7447

Publisher:

American Chemical Society

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; nanoparticles; doping; analysis