Enhanced luminescence by monovalent alkali metal ions in Sr2SiO4:Eu3+ nanophosphor prepared by low temperature solution combustion method

Abstract A series of red light emission phosphors of Sr 2 SiO 4 :Eu 3+ (1–5 mol%) and Sr 2 SiO 4 :Eu 3+ :M + (M +  = Na + , K + and Li + ) were prepared through simple low temperature solution combustion method and their luminescence properties were studied. The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed the formation of highly crystalline Sr 2 SiO 4 :Eu 3+ nanophosphor having an average particle size 45–60 nm and strain was measured to be (2.4–3.1) × 10 3 . The SEM pictures of Sr 2 SiO 4 :Eu 3+ and Sr 2 SiO 4 :Eu 3 + : M + showed porous in nature and irregular shaped particles. The phosphors can be effectively excited by the light of 395 nm and show the characteristic emission peaks assigned to transitions of 5 D 0  →  4 F J ( J  = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4). The excitation and emission spectra indicate that the phosphors can be effectively excited by UV (∼395 nm) light which emits an intense red light peaked at ∼614 nm. The Eu 3+ concentration quenching mechanism was verified to be multipole–multipole interaction and critical energy transfer distance ( R C ) was 16.43 nm. The effects of different concentration of Eu 3+ and charge compensations on luminescence properties were discussed. The highest PL intensity was recorded for 4 mol% Eu 3+ ions. Further, Li + (0.03) has the best charge compensation effect followed by Na + and K + respectively. The γ-induced studies showed three glow peaks at 211, 163 and 243 (shouldered peaks) respectively at a warming rate of 5 °C s −1 . The glow peak intensity at 163 °C increases linearly up to 3 kGy and after that it decreases. Up to 3 kGy, the phosphor was quite useful for radiation dosimetry.