Structural characterization and luminescence properties of nanostructured lanthanide-doped Sc2O3 prepared by propellant synthesis

Nanocrystalline powders of undoped and lanthanide-doped scandium oxide were prepared by propellant synthesis and characterized by x-ray powder diffraction, electron microscopy, EDX spectroscopy and luminescence spectroscopy. The obtained material has the Sc2O3 cubic structure (space group ) with unit cell parameter increasing with the size of the dopant. The crystallite size is in the range 20–40 nm. The lanthanide-doped samples form Sc2−xLnxO3 solid solutions with x≈0.2 (Ln = Eu or Er). No inhomogeneity was found by microanalysis on the micron scale. The emission spectrum of the Eu3+ doped Sc2O3 sample shows strong bands in the visible region assigned to 4f–4f transitions of the lanthanide ions.

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