The synthesis and multicolor luminescence of lanthanide doped Vernier lutetium oxyfluorides

Monodisperse undoped and Ln3+ (Ln = Eu, Tb) doped Vernier Lu5O4F7 nanorods (denoted as V-LuOF) were synthesized via a facile two-step hydrothermal method followed by heat treatment for the first time. The phases, morphologies, sizes and photoluminescence properties of the as-prepared samples were investigated in detail. Under ultraviolet excitation, the V-LuOF:Ln3+ (Ln = Eu, Tb) nanorods showed their characteristic f–f emissions and also showed red and green emissions, respectively. Moreover, by co-doping Tb3+ and Eu3+ ions into the V-LuOF host and tuning their relative concentration ratio, multicolor tunable emissions have been achieved under 378 nm excitation. This result indicates that V-LuOF nanorods have potential applications in field-emission displays.