Effects of the host morphologies on luminescence properties of Nd(3+)-doped LaF3 nanoparticles

By using different surfactants, several host morphologies including rod-like, pot-like and shuttle-like of LaF3:Nd3+(1% mol) nanoparticles were prepared by a simple microemulsion hydrothermal method, and their properties were characterised by XRD, TEM and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The experimental results indicated that the rod-like and pot-like nanocrystals possess well shaped hollow structures. The analysis of spectra proved that the local environment around the dopant ion changed with the different host morphology, which in turn influenced the luminescence properties. The luminescence lifetimes derived from biexponential fitting were 615 micros (nanopots), 419 micros (nanorods) and 194 micros (nanoshuttles), respectively. This phenomenon is ascribed to the weakening effect of hollow or fenestral structures to the nonradiative ratio.