Facile synthesis and luminescence properties of uniform and monodisperse KY3F10:Ln3+ (Ln=Eu, Ce, Tb) nanospheres

Highly uniform and monodisperse KY3F10:Ln3+ (Ln=Eu, Ce, Tb) nanospheres, with an average diameter of 300 nm, have been successfully prepared through a simple template-free and surfactant-free stirring method under ambient conditions. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and photoluminescence (PL) spectra were used to characterize the samples. The SEM images illustrate that these spheres were actually composed of randomly aggregated nanoparticles. The doped rare earth ions show their characteristic emission in the KY3F10 samples, i.e., Eu3+ 5D0–7FJ (J=1, 2, 3, 4), Tb3+ 5D4–7FJ (J=6, 5, 4, 3, 2) and Ce3+ 5d–4f transition emissions, respectively. An energy transfer phenomenon from Ce3+ to Tb3+ has been observed in KY3F10 nanospheres, and the energy transfer efficiency depends on the doping concentration of Tb3+ if the concentration of Ce3+ is fixed.