A facile synthesis of luminescent YVO_4:Eu~(3+) hollow microspheres in virtue of template function of the SDS-PEG soft clusters

摘要

Hollow europium-doped yttrium orthovanadate (YVO_4:Eu~(3+)) microspheres were fabricated via a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)—polyethylene glycol (PEG)-assisted hydrothermal technique. The as-synthesized hollow YVO_4:Eu~(3+) microspheres were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The obtained results showed that the morphology and size of the hollow microspheres have a strong dependence on the hydrothermal reaction time of the YVO_4:Eu~(3+) powders. It is believed that the SDS-PEG clusters perform a function of dual soft-template that results in a unique template-induced secondary assembly in the one-pot synthesis of hollow YVO_4:Eu~(3+) microspheres. The photoluminescence measurement revealed that the YVO_4:Eu~(3+) powders with a spherical hollow shape have better red luminescence compared to the YVO_4:Eu~(3+) solid microspheres. As a result, the controlled synthesis of hollow YVO_4:Eu~(3+) microspheres not only has a great theoretical significance in studying the three-dimensional control and selective synthesis of inorganic materials but also benefits the potential applications based on hollow YVO_4:Eu~(3+) microspheres owing to reducing the usage of expensive rare-earth elements.