Sol–gel preparation and luminescence properties of nanophosphors Y2−xTbxSiO5 derived from in situ assembling hybrid precursors

Using rare earth coordination polymers with salicylic acid as precursors for the luminescence species in Y2SiO5: Tb3+, with polyacrylamide (PAM) as dispersing media and fuel, Y2−xTbxSiO5 with different doping content of terbium ions (x = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10, 0.12, 0.16 and 0.20, respectively) were synthesized by the in situ assembly of hybrid precursors. X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscope show that these materials have the nanometer size of 80–120 nm. These nanometer materials exhibit strong green luminescence at 542 nm. For the higher Tb3+ concentration, a cross-relaxation process between Tb3+ ions results in the quenching of the corresponding 5D3 emission.