Preparation and optical properties of ThO(2) and Eu-doped ThO(2) nanotubes by the sol-gel method combined with porous anodic aluminum oxide template.
In this paper, we report the synthesis of thorium oxide and Eu-doped thorium oxide nanotubes for the first time using the sol-gel method in porous anodic aluminum oxide template. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were applied to characterize the morphology and structure of the as-prepared nanotubes. It has been demonstrated that Eu(3+) ions were homogeneously doped into the ThO(2) crystal lattice. The optical properties resulting from Eu-doped products were investigated by means of photoluminescence spectroscopy. Strong visible light emissions were observed at low doping concentration, and the luminescent intensity decreased at high doping concentration. The luminescent centers were concluded to be the Eu(3+) ions in the cubic (O(h)) sites rather than the C(3v) sites, which accounted well for the decrease of luminescent intensity at high doping concentration.
Lin
Zhi-Wei
ZW
State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
Kuang
Qin
Q
Lian
Wei
W
Jiang
Zhi-Yuan
ZY
Xie
Zhao-Xiong
ZX
Huang
Rong-Bin
RB
Zheng
Lan-Sun
LS