Preparation and Scintillating Properties of Sol-Gel Eu3+, Tb3+ Co-Doped Lu2O3 Nanopowders

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Ángel de Jesús Morales Ramírez¹  Antonieta Garc໚ Murillo¹  Felipe de Jesús Carrillo Romo¹  Margarita Garc໚ Hernández¹  Joel Moreno Palmerin² 

[1] Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CIITEC IPN, Cerrada de Cecati S/N. Col. Santa Catarina, Azcapotzalco Mexico D.F. C.P. 02250, Mexico; E-Mails:;CINVESTAV Querétaro, Libramiento Norponiente #2000, Fracc. Real de Juriquilla, C.P. 76230, Querétaro, Mexico; E-Mail:

关键词: sol-gel;    nanopowders;    Lu₂O₃:Eu³⁺-Tb³⁺;    scintillation properties;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms12096240

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Nanocrystalline Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺ co-doped Lu₂O₃ powders with a maximum size of 25.5 nm were prepared by the sol-gel process, using lutetium, europium and terbium nitrates as precursors, and ethanol as a solvent. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) and infrared spectroscopy (IR) were used to study the chemical changes during the xerogel annealing. After the sol evaporation at 100 °C, the formed gel was annealed from 300 to 900 °C for 30 min under a rich O₂ atmosphere, and the yielded product was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to characterize the microstructural behavior and confirm the crystalline structure. The results showed that Lu₂O₃ nanopowders start to crystallize at 400 °C and that the crystallite size increases along with the annealing temperature. A transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study of samples annealed at 700 and 900 °C was carried out in order to analyze the microstructure, as well as the size, of crystallites. Finally, in regard to scintillating properties, Eu³⁺ dopant (5 mol%), Tb³⁺ codoped Lu₂O₃ exhibited a typical red emission at 611 nm (D_°→⁷F₂), furthermore, the effect of Tb³⁺ molar content (0.01, 0.015 and 0.02% mol) on the Eu³⁺ radioluminiscence was analyzed and it was found that the higher emission intensity corresponds to the lower Tb³⁺ content.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.