Rapid ultrasonic-microwave assisted synthesis of Eu3+ doped Y2O3 nanophosphors with enhanced luminescence properties

A series of Eu3+ doped Y2O3 nanophosphors have been synthesized via an ultra-fast ultrasonic-microwave method followed by thermal annealing. The emission of Y2O3:Eu3+ nanophosphors depends tremendously on the concentration of Eu3+ ions and maximum emission intensity is achieved at 612 nm (red luminescence) with a doping concentration of 3 mol%. Moreover, the Y2O3:Eu3+ nanophosphors in this work have much higher photoluminescence lifetime (1.570 ms) and quantum efficiency (80.88%) than that synthesized by other methods. The results of chromaticity coordinates indicate that the Y2O3:Eu3+ as red-emitting phosphor is promising candidate for white light-emitting diodes (LEDs).