Synthesis, characterization, and luminescence properties of BiVO4:Eu3+ embedded Fe3O4@mSiO2 nanoparticles

Abstract Magnetic Fe3O4 nanospheres with high dispersion, high saturation magnetization and narrow particle size distribution were synthesized by a CaF2 mediated solvothermal method. Next, a nonporous silica layer and a mesoporous silica (mSiO2) layer were uniformly coated on the surface of the magnetic nanospheres sequentially to form Fe3O4@mSiO2 nanoparticles. It was shown that the pore size and thickness of the mSiO2 shell could be fine-tuned by adjusting the composition of the double-template micelle system consisting of a partially fluorinated short-chain anionic fluorocarbon surfactant and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. Finally, Eu3+ in the BiVO4 host was embedded on the surface of Fe3O4@mSiO2 nanoparticles with the Pechini sol-gel process, thus to form magnetic fluorescent nanoparticles. It was found that the fluorescence of the inorganic nanoparticles can be further enhanced by the complexation of 2-thenoyltrifluoroaceate (TTA) to the Eu3+ on the surface of the nanoparticles. The as-prepared nanoparticles were well characterized and the preparation process was optimized in order to establish a robust preparation method for the multiple functionalized luminescent nanoparticles.