Long lasting phosphorescent properties of Ti doped ZrO2

A novel long-lasting afterglow phosphor ZrO2:Ti is prepared by the conventional solid-stated method and their luminescent properties are investigated. A bluish white strong and broad emissive band, which is attributed to originate from the recombination of electrons trapped by F+ centers and the holes created in Valence band, is observed under 254 nm UV irradiation. The identical color long afterglow, which lasts about 1 h, is found in the ZrO2:Ti phosphor after removing the 254 nm UV light. The mechanism of the long lasting phosphorescence (LLP) has been discussed based on the thermoluminescence (TL) results. The replacement of Zr by Ti produces more anion vacancies, resulting in the enhanced photoluminescence (PL) and LLP of ZrO2:Ti sample. These results indicate that ZrO2:Ti phosphor has potential promising applications.