Radioluminescence results, thermoluminescence analysis and kinetic parameters of Y2O3:Ln3+ (Ln: Dy, Nd, Sm) nanophosphors obtained by sol-gel method.

Dy3+, Nd3+, Sm3+ doped Y 2 O 3 nanophosphors were produced with high homogeneity at low sintering temperature using the sol-gel method. To compare the structural and optical changes of different rare-earth ions included in the crystal lattice, the dopant ratio was chosen as constant 2 mol%. In the light of X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the unit cell volume and average crystallite size of the doped nanophosphors and their pure Y 2 O 3 sintered under the same heat treatment regime were calculated and compared. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were used to describe their structures and morphologies; an average particle size histogram of nanostructures was generated. The Radioluminescence (RL) spectra of Y 2 O 3 :Ln3+ (Ln: Dy, Nd, Sm) nanophosphors were presented for the first time. Splittings were seen in detail in the emission spectra given the 200–1100 nm range. For Dy3+4F 9/2 → 6H 13/2 , for Nd3+; in the visible region 4H 11/2 -4I 9/2 in the NIR region 4F 3/2 -4I 9/2 , for Sm3+; in the visible region 4G 5/2 -6H 7/2 in the NIR region 4G 5/2 -6F 5/2 transitions were determined to have the most vigorous emission. It was observed that the optical band gap calculated from the absorption spectrum of Y 2 O 3 was 4.97 eV; this value changed the most with Dy contribution and decreased to 4.77 eV. The thermoluminescence (TL) behaviors of nanophosphors were compared under both UV and X-ray excitation. The kinetic parameters were calculated by applying computerized glow curve deconvolution (CGDC), and various heating rate (VHR) methods to the glow curves obtained UV excitation. The obtained E (eV) values correlated with each other are highly compatible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]