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Effect of Tb3+ and Ce3+ Co-doping on the Structure and Photoluminescence Properties of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Phosphors

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Abstract

In the paper, we have successfully prepared hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN:Tb3+, Ce3+) phosphors with melamine as the nitrogen source. The X-ray powder diffraction patterns confirm that the sample possesses a hexagonal crystal structure within the P\(\overline6\)m2 space group. It is interesting that the co-doping combination of Tb3+ and Ce3+ can markedly enhance the threshold concentration of doped activators within the limited solid solution of h-BN phosphors. Under 302 nm excitation, the h-BN:Ce3+ phosphors exhibit broadband blue light emission at 406 nm. In h-BN:Tb3+, Ce3+ phosphors, the co-doping of Ce3+ not only ensures high phase purity but also results in strong green light emission. The energy transfer efficiency from Ce3+ to Tb3+ is about 55%. The fluorescence lifetime increases with the increase of Ce3+ and Tb3+ concentration, and the fluorescence lifetime of h-BN:0.025Tb3+, 0.05Ce3+ phosphor reached 2.087 ms. Additionally, the h-BN:0.025Tb3+, 0.05Ce3+ phosphor exhibits excellent thermal performance with an activation energy value of 0.2825 eV. Moreover, the photoluminescence quantum yield of the sample exceeds 52%. Therefore, the h-BN:Tb3+, Ce3+ samples can be used as green phosphors for solid state lighting and fluorescent labeling.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 22165016, 22066014), Applied Basic Research Foundation of Yunnan Province (No. 2018FH001-008), Reserve Talents of Young and Middle-aged Academic and Technical Leaders in Yunnan Province (No. 202205AC160042), the Yunnan Provincial Education Department Scientific Research Fund Project of Yunnan Province (No. 2022Y740), and Innovative Research Teams (in Science and Technology) in the University of Yunnan Province (IRTSTYN).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Physics Science and Technology, Kunming University, Kunming, 650214, China

    Lunshuai Nie, Kai Jia & Jiaqin He

  2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Kunming University, Kunming, 650214, China

    Hongguang Guo, Zhehui Weng, Yizhou Li & Haidong Ju

  3. Yunnan Key Laboratory of Metal-Organic Molecular Materials and Device, Kunming University, Kunming, 650214, China

    Haidong Ju

  4. Yunnan Engineering Technology Research Center for Plastic Films, Kunming University, Kunming, 650214, China

    Haidong Ju

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Contributions

Lunshuai Nie: Conceptualization, Software, Data curation, Writing–original draft, Methodology, Investigation. Kai Jia: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Software, Validation. Hongguang Guo: Data curation, Investigation, Writing–original draft. Jiaqin He: Investigation, Methodology. Zhehui Weng and Yizhou Li: Resources, Supervision, Validation. Haidong Ju: Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Writing–review & editing.

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Nie, L., Jia, K., Guo, H. et al. Effect of Tb3+ and Ce3+ Co-doping on the Structure and Photoluminescence Properties of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Phosphors. J Fluoresc (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-024-03663-3

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