Synthesis and Characterisation of SrAl₂O₄: Eu³⁺ Orange-Red Emitting Nanoparticles

The current study involves the synthesis and characterisation of europium doped strontium aluminate nanophosphors using the solid-state reaction method with varying concentrations of europium. The existence of the SrAl₂O₄ phase in all samples was verified using X-ray diffraction and FTIR analysis. The lattice parameters as well as phase fractions were determined using Rietveld refinement. Surface morphology was studied using field emission scanning electron microscope. Using the Tauc plot method acquired from the diffuse reflectance spectra, the band gaps of the samples were determined and it was found that the doped samples possess lower band gaps compared to the host. Our findings demonstrate that these nanophosphors exhibiting bright orange-red emission under UV excitation with quantum efficiency 70.68%, can be applied for display and fluorescence imaging.