Tunable luminescence in monodisperse zirconia spheres

In this article, monodisperse spherical zirconia (ZrO(2)) particles with a narrow size distribution were prepared by the controlled hydrolysis of zirconium butoxide in ethanol, followed by heat treatment in air at low temperature from 300 to 500 degrees C. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, kinetic decay, and electron paramagnetic resonance were used to characterize the samples. The experimental results indicate that the annealed ZrO(2) samples exhibit broad, intense visible photoluminescence. The annealing temperature is indispensable for the luminescence of the obtained ZrO(2) particles. The emission colors of the ZrO(2) samples can be tuned from blue to nearly white to dark orange by varying the annealing temperature. According to the spectral analysis, luminescence lifetimes, and EPR results, the luminescent centers might be attributed to the carbon impurities in the ZrO(2) samples. The possible luminescence mechanism for ZrO(2) samples has been presented in detail.