Synthesis, Characterization and Novel Photoluminescence of SrWO4:Ln3+ Nanocrystals

SrWO4:Ln3+ (Ln = Eu, Ce, and Tb) nanocrystals were successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method, and were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that the crystalline size of nanocrystals decreases with increasing Eu3+ concentrations and increases with increasing annealing temperature, gradually. The photoluminescence properties of SrWO4:Ln3+ were investigated in detail. In the emission spectra of SrWO4:Eu3+, the luminescence was dominated by 5D0--> 7F2 transition, indicating that Eu3+ occupied a site lacking inversion symmetry. The concentration quenching effect hardly occurs. In the excitation spectra of SrWO4:Eu3+ nanocrystals monitored at 619 nm, the most intense peak is centered at 467 nm when the Eu3+ concentration was less than 10%, while the most intense peak is centered at 396 nm when the Eu3+ concentration was 15%. In the normalized emission spectra of SrWO4:Ce3+/Tb3+ nanocrystals excited at 254 nm, the intensity ratio of the sharp emission peaks from Tb3+ ions to the broad emission band from Ce3+ ions increased with increasing Tb3+ concentration.