Seeking the optimal LaTaO4:Eu phosphor

Lanthanum orthotantalate, LaTaO₄, is an excellent host lattice for rare-earth luminescent ions such as Eu³⁺ for red emission. However, there are multiple RETaO₄ (RE=rare earth) polymorphs, and the stability of these is controlled predominantly by the RE-radius. Thus it is difficult to obtain a pure phase of LaTaO₄:Eu as Eu concentration and consequently the RE radius is varied. We recently reported a ‘soft-chemical’ route that allows crystallization of pure-phase LaTaO₄:Eu at temperatures as low as 800 °C. In the current report, we investigate polymorph evolution and Eu emission as a function of Eu concentration and annealing temperature. We obtain a maximum quantum yield (QY) of 83% at the highest Eu substitution (25%) for which the low temperature orthorhombic (Pbca) polymorph is stable. Therefore, QY is not limited necessarily by concentration quenching; rather it is limited by polymorph stability as the RE-radius decreases with increasing Eu substitution.     

A novel red emitting phosphor Ca2SnO4: Eu

A novel red emitting phosphor, Eu³⁺-doped Ca₂SnO₄, was prepared by the solid-state reaction. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the formation of Ca₂SnO₄: Eu³⁺. Field-emission scanning electron-microscopy (FE-SEM) observation indicated a narrow size-distribution of about 500 nm for the particles with spherical shape. Photoluminescence measurements indicated that the phosphor exhibits bright red emission at about 615 nm under UV excitation. The excellent luminescence properties make it possible as a good candidate for plasma display panels (PDP) application. Splitting of the ⁵D₀-⁷F_J transitions of Ca₂SnO₄: Eu³⁺ suggests that the Eu³⁺ ions occupied two nonequivalent sites in the crystallite. The luminescence lifetime measurement showed a bi-exponential decay, providing other evidence for the existence of two different environments for Eu³⁺ ions.     

A new uranyl niobate sheet in the cesium uranyl niobate Cs9[(UO2)8O4(NbO5)(Nb2O8)2]

A new cesium uranyl niobate, Cs₉[(UO₂)₈O₄(NbO₅)(Nb₂O₈)₂] or Cs₉U₈Nb₅O₄₁ has been synthesized by high-temperature solid-state reaction, using a mixture of U₃O₈, Cs₂CO₃ and Nb₂O₅. Single crystals were obtained by incongruent melting of a starting mixture with metallic ratio=Cs/U/Nb=1/1/1. The crystal structure of the title compound was determined from single crystal X-ray diffraction data, and solved in the monoclinic system with the following crystallographic data: a=16.729(2) Å, b=14.933(2) Å, c=20.155(2) Å β=110.59(1)°, P2₁/c space group and Z=4. The crystal structure was refined to agreement factors R₁=0.049 and wR₂=0.089, calculated for 4660 unique observed reflections with I?2σ(I), collected on a BRUKER AXS diffractometer with MoKα radiation and a CCD detector.In this structure the UO₇ uranyl pentagonal bipyramids are connected by sharing edges and corners to form a uranyl layer corresponding to a new anion-sheet topology, and creating triangular, rectangular and square vacant sites. The two last sites are occupied by Nb₂O₈ entities and NbO₅ square pyramids, respectively, to form infinite uranyl niobate sheets stacking along the [010] direction. The Nb₂O₈ entities result from two edge-shared NbO₅ square pyramids. The Cs⁺ cations are localized between layers and ensured the cohesion of the structure.The cesium cation mobility between the uranyl niobate sheets was studied by electrical measurements. The conductivity obeys the Arrhenius law in all the studied temperature domains. The observed low conductivity values with high activation energy may be explained by the strong connection of the Cs⁺ cations to the infinite uranyl niobate layers and by the high density of these cations in the interlayer space without vacant site.Infrared spectroscopy investigated at room temperature in the frequency range 400-4000 cm⁻¹, showed some characteristic bands of uranyl ion and niobium polyhedra.     

LiCl-LiBr-LiVO3 and LiCl-LiBr-Li2MoO4 ternary systems

Phase equilibria in the LiCl-LiBr-LiVO₃ and LiCl-LiBr-Li₂MoO₄ ternary systems have been investigated by differential thermal analysis. The following compositions have been revealed (mol %): eutectic in the LiCl-LiBr-LiVO₃ system (18.0% LiCl, 72.0% LiBr, and 10.0% LiVO₃) with a melting point of 464°C and specific enthalpy of melting of 213 kJ/kg, and a minimum in the LiCl-LiBr-Li₂MoO₄ system (27.0% LiCl, 48.0% LiBr, and 25.0% Li₂MoO₄) with a melting point of 444°C. The investigation of ternary systems including salts of alkali metals is of practical interest for chemical industry and metallurgy, where salt mixtures are used as fused electrolytes and heat carriers. Original Russian Text ? T.V. Gubanova, E.I. Frolova, I.K. Garkushin, 2009, published in Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii, 2009, Vol. 54, No. 7, pp. 1220–1223.     

Bi/BiVO4&Bi4V2O11复合催化剂的制备及其光催化性能

经由溶剂热反应、光辅助还原过程制备Bi/Bi VO_4Bi_4V_2O_(11)纳米复合光催化材料。通过X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、高分辨率透射电子显微镜(HRTEM)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、紫外-可见漫反射光谱(UV-Vis DRS)、N_2吸附-脱附等温线和光致发光(PL)等手段对该复合物进行表征。实验结果表明当金属Bi与BiVO_4Bi_4V_2O_(11)的质量比值为0.8,可见光照射30 min时,Bi/BiVO_4Bi_4V_2O_(11)复合催化剂对罗丹明B(RhB)的降解率可达95.6%。此外,Bi/BiVO_4Bi_4V_2O_(11)对四环素(TC)的降解也表现出增强的光催化性能。Bi/BiVO_4Bi_4V_2O_(11)复合材料提升的光催化性能可能归因于金属Bi的表面等离子体共振(SPR)效应、拓宽的可见光吸收范围和增大的比表面积。此外,提出了复合光催化剂可能的光催化机理。     

A novel blue-emitting phosphor LiSrPO4:Eu for white LEDs

A novel blue-emitting phosphor, LiSrPO₄:Eu²⁺, was prepared by the solid-state reaction and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the formation of LiSrPO₄:Eu²⁺. Photoluminescence (PL) results showed that the phosphor can be efficiently excited by UV-visible light from 250 to 440 nm, and exhibited bright blue emission. The effects of the doped-Eu²⁺ concentration in LiSrPO₄:Eu²⁺ on the PL were investigated in detail. The results showed that the relative PL intensity increases with Eu²⁺-concentration increasing until a maximum intensity is reached, and then it decreases due to concentration quenching and a red-shift appears, which are explained satisfactorily with the luminescent theory. Upon excited with 396 nm light, the present synthesized phosphor has higher emission intensity than that from the commercial blue phosphor, BaMgAl₁₀O₁₇:Eu²⁺. Bright blue light-emitting diodes were fabricated by the combination of the synthesized LiSrPO₄:Eu²⁺ with ∼397 nm emitting InGaN-based chips.     

Structure and antiferroelectric properties of cesium niobate, Cs2Nb4O11

The compound cesium niobate, Cs₂Nb₄O₁₁, is an antiferroelectric, as demonstrated by double hysteresis loops in the electric field versus polarization plot. The crystal structure refinement by X-ray diffraction at both 100 and 297 K shows it to have a centrosymmetric structure in point group mmm and orthorhombic space group Pnna, which is consistent with its antiferroelectric behavior. The 100-K structure data is reported herein. The lattice is comprised of niobium-centered tetrahedra and octahedra connected through shared vertices and edges; cesium atoms occupy channels afforded by the three-dimensional polyhedral network. Antiferroelectricity is produced by antiparallel displacements of niobium atoms along the c-axis at the phase transition temperature of 165 °C. The critical field for onset of ferroelectric behavior in a single-crystal sample is 9.5 kV/cm at room temperature.     

Dirac-Fock one-centre calculations. The model systems TiH4, ZrH4, HfH4 and (104)H4

Relativistic and non-relativistic Hartree-Fock calculations including np and np and (n-1)d orbitals in the valence MO's are reported for the tetrahedral model systems TiH₄, ZrH₄, HfH₄ and (104)H₄. About 50%p and 50%d character is found, making the relativistic effects on the bond lengths and strengths one order of magnitude smaller than for the groups Ib, IIIb or IVb. This probably explains the close chemical similarity between Zr and Hf. The Ti---H bond length agrees with experiment. Inverted spin—orbit splitting is found to TiH₄.     

A potential red phosphor ZnMoO4:Eu for light-emitting diode application

Motivated by the need for new red phosphors for solid-state lighting applications Eu³⁺-doped ZnMoO₄ was prepared by solid-state reaction and its photoluminescence properties were investigated. Compared with Ca_0.80MoO₄:Eu_0.20³⁺, the obtained Zn_0.80MoO₄:Eu_0.20³⁺ phosphor shows a stronger excitation band near 400 nm as well as enhanced red emissions (under 393 nm excitation). The strong red-emission lines at 616 nm correspond to the forced electric dipole ⁵D₀→⁷F₂ transitions on Eu³⁺. The chromaticity coordinates (x=0.63, y=0.37) are close to the standard of National Television Standard Committee (NTSC). The optical properties suggest that Zn_0.80MoO₄:Eu_0.20³⁺ is an efficient red-emitting phosphor for LED applications.     

Investigation of phase equilibria in the systems K2SO4Sc2(SO4)3, Rb2SO4Sc2(SO4)3 and Cs2SO4Sc2(SO4)3

Phase diagrams of the systems K₂SO₄Sc₂(SO₄)₃, Rb₂SO ₄Sc₂(SO₄)₃ and Cs₂SO₄ Sc₂(SO₄)₃ have been investigated by X-ray diffraction phase analysis and differential thermal analysis techniques. A salient feature of all the systems is the formation of M₃Sc(SO₄)₃, which melt incongruently, and MSc(SO₄)₂, which on heating decompose in the solid state.     

Ba3 (VO4)2-K2 Ba(MoO4)2 and Pb3 (VO4)2-K2 Pb(MoO4)2 systems

Phase equilibria in the Ba₃(VO₄)₂-K₂Ba(MoO₄)₂ and Pb3(VO₄)₂-K₂Pb(MoO₄)₂ systems have been investigated. In the first system, a continuous series of substitutional solid solutions with the palmierite structure is formed, and in the second one, the polymorphic transition in lead orthovanadate at 100°C restricts the extent of the palmierite-type solid solution to 10–100 mol % K₂Pb(MoO₄)₂. Original Russian Text ? V.D. Zhuravlev, Yu.A. Velikodnyi, A.S. Vinogradova-Zhabrova, A.P. Tyutyunnik, V.G. Zubkov, 2008, published in Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii, 2008, Vol. 53, No. 10, pp. 1746–1748.     

Phase equilibria in systems based on Tl4SnSe3 and Tl4SnSe4 ternary compounds

Phase equilibria in the Tl₄SnSe₃-Tl (I), Tl₄SnSe₃-Sn (II), Tl₄SnSe₄-SnSe (III), Tl₄SnSe{ia4}-TlSe (IV), and Tl₄SnSe₃-Tl₄SnSe₄ (V) systems have been studied by differential thermal analysis and power X-ray diffraction. Systems I–V have been found to have eutectic interactions. In systems I and II, width regions of solid solutions based on the ternary compound Tl₄SnSe₃ are formed.     

NaF-NaBr-Na2MoO4 and KF-KCl-KBr ternary systems

Phase equilibria in the NaF-NaBr-Na₂MoO₄ and KF-KCl-KBr have been investigated by differential thermal and X-ray powder diffraction analyses. In the NaF-NaBr-Na₂MoO₄ system, a ternary eutectic and a ternary peritectic, melting and 506 and 570°C with specific enthalpy of melting of 241 and 328 kJ/kg, respectively, have been revealed. In the KF-KCl-KBr system, the existence of zonal solid solutions has been established; crystallization temperatures and melting enthalpies have been determined for samples of several compositions lying on a univariant line. Original Russian Text ? N.N. Verdiev, P.A. Arbukhanova, E.G. Iskenderov, 2009, published in Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii, 2009, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 129–134.     

Heat capacity, enthalpy and entropy of strontium niobate Sr2Nb2O7 and calcium niobate Ca2Nb2O7

The heat capacity and the enthalpy increments of strontium niobate Sr₂Nb₂O₇ and calcium niobate Ca₂Nb₂O₇ were measured by the relaxation time method (2–300 K), DSC (260–360 K) and drop calorimetry (720–1370 K). Temperature dependencies of the molar heat capacity in the form C_pm = 248.0 + 0.04350T − 3.948 × 10⁶/T² J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for Sr₂Nb₂O₇ and C_pm = 257.2 + 0.03621T − 4.434 × 10⁶/T² J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for Ca₂Nb₂O₇ were derived by the least-square method from the experimental data. The molar entropies at 298.15 K, S_m°(298.15 K) = 238.5 ± 1.3 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for Sr₂Nb₂O₇ and S_m°(298.15 K) = 212.4 ± 1.2 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for Ca₂Nb₂O₇, were evaluated from the low-temperature heat capacity measurements.     

A new type of charge compensating mechanism in Ca5(PO4)3F:Eu phosphor

The X-ray powder diffraction, reflectance, photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation and ESR spectra of Ca₅(PO₄)₃F:Eu³⁺ phosphor have been studied. Three distinct variants of calcium substitutional Eu³⁺-sites have been observed in this host and the charge compensating species related to each of these sites has been identified. It is noted that the host related trace impurities those have prospects of acting as charge compensator, and the reaction environment that exists during the preparation of the material, greatly influence the preferential substitution of different Ca²⁺-sites by the Eu³⁺ ions. It is also noted that the charge compensating species in a suitable case, takes part in the photophysical process of luminescence of the Eu³⁺.     

La6Pd13Cd4 and Ce6Pd13Cd4 with palladium-centred rare earth octahedra: synthesis, structure, and chemical bonding

Abstract  

The palladium-rich cadmium compounds La₆Pd₁₃Cd₄ and Ce₆Pd₁₃Cd₄ were synthesized by induction melting the elements in sealed tantalum ampoules and subsequent annealing. They were characterized by X-ray powder and single-crystal diffraction: Na₁₆Ba₆N type, Im[`3] mIm\overline{3} m, a = 988.12(9) pm, wR2 = 0.0463, 225 F ² values, and 12 variables for La₆Pd₁₃Cd₄, and a = 982.1(2) pm, wR2 = 0.0521, 215 F ² values, and 12 variables for Ce₆Pd₁₃Cd₄. The striking structural motifs are palladium-centred La₆ and Ce₆ octahedra, which are packed in a bcc fashion. Further palladium and cadmium atoms built up three-dimensional [Pd₃Cd] networks in which the La₆Pd and Ce₆Pd octahedra are embedded. Chemical bonding analyses show that the dominant interaction occurs within the palladium-centred RE ₆ octahedra, while weaker bonding exists between them.     

Separation of 234th from inactive thorium, uranium and iron by adsorption on Bi(IO3)3, Bi(IO4)3 or Pb(IO3)2

Summary Conditions are described under which rapid and quantitative separation of ²³⁴Th occurs by adsorption on Bi(IO₃)₃, Bi(IO₄)₃, Pb(IO₃)₂. The activity is retained even in presence of considerable amounts of inactive thorium, uranyl and ferric ions. It appears that the activity is adsorbed by counter-ion exchange followed by inhomogeneous mixed crystal formation.

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Trennung des ²³⁴Th von inaktivem Thorium, Uran und Eisen durch Adsorption an Bi(JO₃)₃, Bi(JO₄)₃ oder Pb(JO₃)₂

Zusammenfassung Bedingungen für eine rasche Trennung werden beschrieben. Die Aktivität wird selbst in Anwesenheit wesentlicher Mengen von inaktivem Thorium, Uranyl- und Eisen(III)-ionen an dem Wismut- oder Bleiniederschlag zurückgehalten. Der Vorgang wird durch Gegenionen-Austausch und inhomogene Mischkristallbildung erklärt.

     

MgF2对Mn4+掺杂锗酸盐红色荧光粉发光的影响

3.5MgO·0.5MgF₂·GeO₂∶Mn⁴⁺作为优异热稳定性和良好发光性能的红色荧光粉而被市场应用,然而,该粉体中MgF₂的作用影响机理尚不明晰,阻碍其性能进一步优化和发展。采用高温固相法制备了系列Mn⁴⁺激活的锗酸盐荧光粉,通过对比加入MgF₂、H₃BO₃(助熔剂),研究了该粉体的结构、形貌、发光性能等变化规律,阐明了MgF₂的发光影响作用。研究表明,加入MgF₂、H₃BO₃和不加任何助熔剂时的样品,其最佳烧结温度分别为1 150、1 250和1 350 ℃,上述温度下发光强度均为最佳值,其中加入MgF₂、H₃BO₃的样品在最佳温度处生成了纯相。MgF₂的添加,一方面同H₃BO₃一样作为助熔剂对生成纯相、提高样品结晶度起了积极的作用;另一方面,通过研究分析,确认F^-离子成功掺杂进入晶格,促使样品生成的晶体结构为Mg₁₄Ge₅(O,F)₂₄。加入MgF₂、H₃BO₃在最佳烧结温度的样品的荧光寿命分别为0.93和0.75 ms。     

Low-temperature absorption spectra of the MoO2−4 ion in Cs2SO4 and of the ReO−4 ion in RbClO4 and in (C2H5)4NClO4

Absorption spectra of single crystals of Cs₂SO₄ doped with MoO^2?₄ and of RbClO₄ and (C₂H₅)₄HClO₄ doped with ReO^?₄ have been measured at the liquid-helium temperature. All spectra show two band systems with pronounced vibrational structures. In T_d symmetry they must correspond to ¹T₂ - ¹A₁ charge-transfer electornic transitions. It is likely that in the two band systems there are more than two electronic transitions.     

Calculation of phase diagrams for the binary systems BaF2-KF and KF-ZrF4 and the ternary system BaF2-KF-ZrF4

This paper presents the thermodynamic modeling of excess functions and the phase diagram calculation of the ternary system BaF₂-KF-ZrF₄ based on the Hoch-Arpshofen model. The information required was the thermodynamic quantities relative to the three pure salts and the three limiting binary mixtures. The calculated position of the “deep” ternary eutectic allows the prediction of the composition glass range.