Acetate reduction synthesis of Sr2Si5N8:Eu2+ phosphor and its luminescence properties

A novel synthesis method was developed for the efficient red phosphor, Eu2+-activated Sr2Si5N8, by employing the strontium acetate as both the reducing agent and strontium source. The phase purity of final product was strongly dependent on the heating rate of the precursors. Sr2Si5N8:Eu2+ (2 at%) phosphor presented a broadband excitation spectrum in the range 300–500 nm, matching well with the blue emission (400/460 nm) of current InGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The red emission peaking at 619 nm gave the relatively high (about 155%) intensity compared with the Y3Al5O12 (YAG) (P46-Y3) standard phosphor. In addition, the saturated chromatic coordinates (0.638, 0.359) allowed it a promising candidate as a red phosphor in white LEDs application for illumination or display.