Synthesis and fluorescent properties of well-dispersed Y2O3:Eu3+ nanocrystals

Uniform-sized and well-crystalline Eu3+ doped Y2O3 nanocrystals (NCs) have been successfully synthesized via a metal-oleate decomposition method using 1-octadecene as high boiling organic solvents. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), photoluminescence (PL) and the kinetic decay were employed to characterize the samples. It was found that Y2O3:Eu3+ nanocrystals can be indexed to cubic Y2O3 phase with high purity. The FE-SEM and TEM images reveal that the as-prepared Y2O3:Eu3+ consists of uniform nanospheres with the mean particle size of 19 nm in a relatively narrow size distribution. The Y2O3:Eu3+ nanocrystals exhibit strong luminescence upon ultraviolet excitation, suggesting its potential application in the fields of color displays and bioimaging.