The effects of boric acid on crystal structure, nano-/ microstructure and photoluminescence characteristics of rare earth-doped Y2O3/YBO3 composite compounds

In this investigation, (Y0.96Eu0.04)2O3 phosphor nanoparticles with an average size of 85 nm were synthesized through a facile solid-state method. It was found that small magnitudes of H3BO3 improve both growth and crystallinity of nanoparticles, significantly. Consuming specific amounts of boric acid not only results in dramatic changes in crystal structure, from cubic to hexagonal, but also influences size and morphology of particles. Noteworthy, further increase in the additive suppresses the crystal growth procedure. The luminescent properties of the synthesized phosphors were investigated by PL analyzer. It was found that the change in crystal structure leads to the huge differences in the wavelength and the photoluminescence characteristics. The main emission bands of Y2O3- and YBO3-based compounds are attributed to 5D0–7F2 electric dipole and 5D0–7F1 magnetic dipole transitions, respectively. In other words, it was concluded that sufficient quantities of H3BO3 cause a noticeable decrease in the main emission wavelength from 612 to 592 nm.