Issue 17, 2024

Elucidation of the structural features and photoluminescence properties of a hydrothermally-synthesized γ-KEu(MoO4)2 microcrystal phosphor with metastable orthorhombic structure and differences in the luminescence properties by structure transition due to Y3+-dilution

Abstract

Potassium europium molybdate, KEu(MoO4)2, is an intriguing material known for its efficient luminescence properties attributed to Eu3+ ions and its polymorphic nature. Despite its significance, research on the metastable γ-phase has been limited, with no prior reports on its structure, particle morphology, and luminescence characteristics. In this study, both the stable α-phase and the metastable γ-phase of KEu(MoO4)2 were synthesized using solid-state and hydrothermal reaction methods, and their crystal structures, particle morphologies, and luminescence properties were comprehensively investigated. X-Ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of the triclinic α-phase and the orthorhombic γ-phase, with factor analysis results consistent with theoretically optimized structures, facilitating accurate structural determination. Both phases exhibited typical photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Eu3+ ions. However, in the γ-phase, the 5D07F2 transition appeared as a non-split peak with minimal Stark effect, attributed to differences in structural symmetry between the phases. A red-shift in the PL excitation edge was observed in the α-phase, which was attributed to a narrowed band gap resulting from the broadening of the O-p orbital in the valence band, as indicated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Additionally, KEu(MoO4)2 was doped with Y3+ ions to form K(Eu,Y)(MoO4)2, revealing a solid solubility limit of 40% in the α-phase, while the γ-phase displayed no solid solution limit. The estimated critical distance of Eu3+ ions suggested that Eu–Eu interactions contributing to concentration quenching are minimal in the stacking direction but significant in the in-plane direction, operating in the second shell.

Graphical abstract: Elucidation of the structural features and photoluminescence properties of a hydrothermally-synthesized γ-KEu(MoO4)2 microcrystal phosphor with metastable orthorhombic structure and differences in the luminescence properties by structure transition due to Y3+-dilution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Dec 2023
Accepted
04 Apr 2024
First published
05 Apr 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

New J. Chem., 2024,48, 7579-7589

Elucidation of the structural features and photoluminescence properties of a hydrothermally-synthesized γ-KEu(MoO4)2 microcrystal phosphor with metastable orthorhombic structure and differences in the luminescence properties by structure transition due to Y3+-dilution

T. Hasegawa, S. Noda, W. Hikita, K. Toda, A. Okawa and S. Yin, New J. Chem., 2024, 48, 7579 DOI: 10.1039/D3NJ05866B

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