Preparation and temperature sensing behavior of NaY(MoO4)2: Pr3+, Tb3+ phosphors

Highlights: • NaY(MoO₄)₂:Pr³⁺,Tb³⁺ with different morphologies were prepared by hydrothermal. • The relative sensitivity reached 3.00%K⁻¹, higher than that of reported materials. • The relative sensitivity increases with the increase of proportion of Cit³⁻/Re³⁺. • The luminescent color of the sample has obvious change with the temperature. Adding sodium citric as chelator, NaY(MoO₄)₂: Pr³⁺, Tb³⁺ phosphors were prepared by hydrothermal method. XRD (X-ray diffraction) is employed to confirm the microscopic arrangement of the samples, and the test data show that phosphors are body – centered tetragonal structure. The FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope) results indicate that the addition of sodium citrate has a certain effect on the morphology of the samples. It was found from the measured temperature-dependent emission spectrum that Pr³⁺ and Tb³⁺ has different quenching trends, and temperature can be characterized by FIR (fluorescence intensity ratio) of Pr³⁺ ion and Tb³⁺ ion. Moreover, the experimental results display that with the rise of the molar ratio of Cit³⁻/Re³⁺, the sensitivity of phosphors gradually decreases, but the relative sensitivity gradually increases. The relative sensitivity of obtained samples has a higher value of 3.00% K⁻¹ (Cit³⁻/Re³⁺ = 2). From the CIE chromaticity coordinates, it displays that the luminous color of phosphors changed continuously with the change of temperature.