Microwave-assisted synthesis and characterization of Y2O3 : Eu(III)-benzoate hybrid nanophosphors

The optical and structural characteristics of Y2O3: Eu (III)-benzoate hybrid nanophosphors, synthesized by the microwave-assisted solvothermal technique, are reported in this work. Benzyl alcohol was used during the synthesis, carried out at low temperatures in the microwave reactor, to obtain the Y2O3: Eu(III)-benzoate-layered hybrid nanophosphors. The benzyl alcohol led to the incorporation of benzene rings (belonging to benzoate group) around the Y2O3: Eu(III) molecules, promoting a lamellar structure and showing the previously reported luminescent "antenna effect" in the nanophosphors. Y2O3: Eu(III)-benzoate nanophosphors showed a high photoluminescence emission intensity at 590, 612, 650, and 697 nm due to the interelectronic D-5(0) to F-7(1), F-7(2), F-7(3), and F-7(4) transitions of the europium ions. A stark split might be present due to the variation of the annealing temperature given to the Y2O3: Eu(III)-benzoate nanophosphors. The nanostructured hybrids showed the appearance of complex morphologies similar to flower petals. The as-obtained nanophosphors were in the range of similar to 20 nm and showed the reported x-ray diffraction reflections for these kinds of materials. (C) 2018 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)