Effect of composition and synthesis route on structure and luminescence of NaBaPO₄:Eu²⁺ and ZnAl₂O₄:Eu³⁺

Abstract

NaBaPO₄:Eu²⁺ and ZnAl₂O₄:Eu³⁺ phosphors with different dopant content were prepared by solution-combustion (SC) and sol–gel (SG) method. SC route gives samples with high crystallinity, that does not always leads to increase in luminescent properties due to formation of admixture phases. In NaBaPO₄ phosphor series, crystallite size reversly depends on admixture Ba₃(PO₄)₂ phase content. Increase in europium concentration up to 10% lead to decrease of crystallite size in samples prepared by SC method, but increase of crystallite size in samples prepared by SG method. For ZnAl₂O₄:Eu³⁺, prepared by sol–gel technique, increase in Eu³⁺ concentration leads to amorphization of structure.