Modulating the photoluminescence of europium oxide nanoparticles by controlling thermal decomposition conditions

Abstract Europium oxide nanoparticles are emerging as one of the most important oxide phosphors for a variety of applications. Currently, thermal decomposition is the most powerful approach to prepare europium oxide nanoparticles with narrow size and morphology distribution. However, an understanding of the relationship between thermal decomposition conditions on the corresponding photoluminescence (PL) performance of europium oxide nanoparticles remains unexplored so far. In this study, europium oxide nanoparticles were prepared through thermal decomposition under different conditions by controlling the concentration precursor or the solvent used for thermal decomposition and the PL properties of as-prepared europium oxide nanoparticles were investigated. The obtained PL spectra infer the coexistence of Eu3+ and Eu2+ emission centers in the as-prepared europium oxide nanoparticles. More importantly, it is evidenced that the control of the thermal decomposition conditions appears an effective way to modulate the relative fraction of Eu2+ and Eu3+ emission centers, which confers the PL emission of europium oxide nanoparticles from blue to red.