Photoluminescence properties of gadolinium oxide nanophosphor

In this paper, we report low temperature solution combustion synthesis and characterization of rare earth oxide (Gd2O3) nanocrystalline phosphor. During the synthesis, glycine was used as a fuel. The final product was examined by well characterized techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction pattern (PXRD), UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) measurements etc. The average crystallite size of the Gd2O3 nanophosphor was estimated using Scherrer's formula and found to be 36 nm. The UV-Visible absorption peaks observed at ∼243 and ∼305 nm. Further the band gap of 900 °C for 3 h calcined Gd2O3 nanophosphor were estimated by Wood and Tauc relation and it was found to be ∼5.4 eV. A broad PL emission band at ∼380 nm was observed at 230 nm excitation. According to Wang's proposal, this emission band may be attributed to recombination of a delocalized electron close to the conduction band with a single charged state of surface oxygen vacancy.