Abstract
Recent developments in the field of designing novel nanostructures with various functionalities have pushed the scientific world to design and develop high-quality nanomaterials with multifunctional applications. Here, we propose a new kind of doped metal oxide pyrochlore nanostructure for solid-state phosphor, X-ray scintillator, and optical thermometry. The developed samarium-activated La2Hf2O7 (LHOS) nanoparticles (NPs) emit a narrow and stable red emission with lower color temperature and adequate critical distance under near-UV and X-ray excitations. When the LHOS NPs are exposed to an energetic X-ray beam, the Sm3+ ions situated at the symmetric environment get excited along with those located at the asymmetric environment, which results in a low asymmetry ratio of Sm3+ under radioluminescence compared to photoluminescence. High activation energy and adequate thermal sensitivity of the LHOS NPs highlight their potential as a thermal sensor. Our results indicate that these Sm3+-activated La2Hf2O7 NPs can serve as a multifunctional UV, X-ray, and thermographic phosphor.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 17956-17966 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | ACS Omega |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 19 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 5 2019 |
Funding
The authors thank the financial support by the National Science Foundation under CHE (award #1710160). S.K.G. thanks the United States\u2013India Education Foundation (USIEF, India) and the Institute of International Education (IIE, USA) for his Fulbright Nehru Postdoctoral Fellowship (Award no. 2268/FNPDR/2017). In situ Raman and PL measurements were conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. The authors thank the financial support by the National Science Foundation under CHE (award #1710160). S.K.G. thanks the United States-India Education Foundation (USIEF, India) and the Institute of International Education (IIE, USA) for his Fulbright Nehru Postdoctoral Fellowship (Award no. 2268/FNPDR/2017). In situ Raman and PL measurements were conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.