Synthesis and luminescence properties of nanocrystalline YVO4:Eu3+

Nanocrystalline YVO4:Eu3+ was synthesized by direct precipitation reaction, which was then annealed at different temperatures. The results of XRD showed that nanocrystalline YVO4:Eu3+ could be obtained in solution at 60 °C, and the mean particle sizes of samples are increased as annealing temperature is increased. The results of TEM exhibit that the sizes of samples are around 5–30 nm. Studies on the excitation spectra show that there are a large number of the structural distortions in smaller particles. By analyzing line splitting patterns and peaks broadening in the emission spectra, we consider that the deviations in intensity patterns of 5D0–7F2 are affected by distortions of crystal lattice. Some abnormal behaviors can be attributed to higher ratio of surface to volume, which lead to the different local symmetry environment of Eu3+ ions on the surface.