Control morphology, tunable multicolor and paramagnetic properties of GdF3:RE3+ (RE = Tm, Dy, Eu) submicro structures.

In this paper, the synthesis of rare earth fluoride GdF 3 multiform morphologies via l -arginine hydrothermal method has been fulfilled for the first time. The size and shape of the products could be tuned just by adjusting the pH values of the initial reaction solutions. The morphologies for the products include submicron round disc, submicron flower disc, submicron rods and submicron bulks. Additionally, the possible formation mechanism of multiform morphologies was proposed. Furthermore, we systematically investigate the luminescence properties of different lanthanide ions (Tm 3+ , Dy 3+ , Eu 3+ ) in GdF 3 host. By adjusting their relative doping concentrations in the GdF 3 host, the different color hue of blue and yellow light are obtained by co-doped Tm 3+ ,Dy 3+ and Dy 3+ , Eu 3+ in GdF 3 host, respectively. Besides, there exist two energy transfer pairs in the GdF 3 host: (1) Tm 3+ →Dy 3+ ; (2) Dy 3+ →Eu 3+ . More significantly, in the Tm 3+ , Dy 3+ , Eu 3+ tri-doped GdF 3 phosphors, white light can also be achieved upon excitation of UV light by adjusting the doping concentration of rare earth ion (Tm 3+ , Dy 3+ , Eu 3+ ). Importantly, when the temperature was raised to 225 °C, the emission intensities of Dy 3+ (475 nm) and Eu 3+ (592 nm) was 65% and 71% of the initial value at 25 °C for GdF 3 : Dy 3+ , Eu 3+ , which indicating that the thermal stability of the phosphors of the GdF 3 :2%Dy 3+ , 3%Eu 3+ is excellent. In addition, the obtained samples also exhibit paramagnetic properties at room temperature (300 K). The result shows that the obtained nanophosphors have a promising application in display and lighting fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]