A potential blue photoluminescence material: ZrO2–SiO2 glasses

nZrO2–(100−n)SiO2 (n=0.5, 1, 2, and 3 wt.%) glasses have been prepared by sol–gel method. Photoluminescence (PL) properties of the samples heated to various temperatures were investigated for the first time. Strong blue emission band centered at 442 nm was observed from sol–gel ZrO2–SiO2 glasses. The blue emission is assigned to defects in the ZrO2–SiO2 network. The heat treatment has a large effect on the PL intensity of the ZrO2–SiO2 samples. The PL intensity is also changed with different ZrO2 content.