Growth and crystal structure of Li3Ba4Sc3B8O22 borate and its Tb3+ doped green-emitting phosphor

Abstract A new lithium barium scandium borate (Li3Ba4Sc3B8O22) was obtained by solid-state synthesis and grown by spontaneous crystallization. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis showed that it crystallizes in the centrosymmetric space group P-1 with the cell dimensions a = 5.2230(4) A, b = 8.5609(6) A, c = 11.4157(8) A, α = 73.3750(6)°, β = 78.5020(6)°, γ = 87.0520(6)°, and V = 479.28(6) A3 and a structure that consists of two layers formed by single [BO3] and double [B2O5] triangles, [ScO6] octahedra, [BaO9] polyhedra, and disordered [LiO4] tetrahedra or squares. The diffuse optical reflection spectrum indicates that Li3Ba4Sc3B8O22 is transparent in the range of 250–800 nm. Furthermore, an effective green emission centred at 545 nm was observed for the as-prepared Tb3+-doped Li3Ba4Sc3B8O22, making this borate compound a promising host material for engineering light-emitting phosphors.