Fabrication and characterizations of Eu2+-Dy3+ co-doped SrAl2O4 ceramics with persistent luminescence

(Sr0.97Eu0.01Dy0.02)Al2O4 persistent luminescence (PersL) ceramics were fabricated by solid-state reactive sintering in vacuum combined with hot isostatic pressing (HIP) using H3BO3 as a sintering additive. The phase composition, microstructure, luminescence properties, trap state, and PersL performance of HIP post-treated (Sr0.97Eu0.01Dy0.02)Al2O4 PersL ceramics were discussed. For the (Sr0.97Eu0.01Dy0.02)Al2O4 PersL ceramics after HIP post-treatment, the initial luminescence intensity of the ceramics reached over 6400 mcd/m(2) with simulated daylight irradiation of 1000 lx for 5 min, and the persistent emission decay time > 17 h. This is much better than the SrAl2O4:Eu2+,Dy3+ PersL powders and the other luminescent ceramics. In addition, this method is a solid-state reactive sintering method for synthesizing ceramics, which has the advantages of low cost and simple operation, and is suitable for large-scale, high-volume industrial production.