Electrospinning preparation and photoluminescence properties of Y3Al5O12:Ce3+, Tb3+ nanobelts

Novel nanostructure of Y3Al5O12:Ce3+, Tb3+ (denoted as YAG:Ce3+, Tb3+ for short) nanobelts and nanofibers were fabricated by calcination of the respective electrospun PVP/[Y(NO3)3 + Ce(NO3)3 + Tb(NO3)3 + Al(NO3)3] composite nanobelts. YAG:Ce3+, Tb3+ nanobelts are cubic in structure with space group of Ia3d. The thickness and width of the YAG:Ce3+, Tb3+ nanobelts are respectively 118 nm and 4.09 ± 0.41 μm. The excitation spectra detected of 520 nm for Ce3+ emission represented 4f8 → 4f75d transition band at 273 nm by Tb3+ and other two bands by Ce3+. When excited with a UV light of 273 nm, YAG:Ce3+, Tb3+ nanobelts showed the characteristic Tb3+ peaks, as well as Ce3+ emission peak. The results concluded that the energy transfer pathway in YAG:Ce3+, Tb3+ nanobelts system was one-way from Tb3+ to Ce3+. Commission International del’Eclairage chromaticity coordinates indicated that the emission colors of YAG:Ce3+, Tb3+ nanobelts were tunable by changing the concentration of doping Ce3+, which could be applied in the field of optical telecommunication and optoelectronic devices. The possible formation mechanism of YAG:Ce3+, Tb3+ nanobelts was also proposed.