Stability of luminescence in LaPO4, LaPO4:RE3+ (RE = Dy,Eu) nanophosphors

The property of high refractive index, low solubility in water as well as stability to high temperature variation of lanthanum phosphate (LaPO₄) proved it was the most effective candidate for the production of display lamps, and plasma display panel devices and sensors. The morphological and nanostructural characteristics play a key role in the working efficiency of the luminescent material. These properties can be controlled by the synthesis method, which we have adopted in this paper. We have prepared LaPO₄ nanoparticles at a relatively low temperature (110 ºC) in polyethylene glycol medium by using a wet chemical one‐step synthesis. The phase composition and structural properties of the sample have been characterized by X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, transmission electron microscopy and the luminescent property by photoluminescence and thermoluminescence. The samples were well crystallized and the average crystallite size of 15 nm has been calculated for pure LaPO₄ using the Debye–Scherrer equation. The result from heat‐treated samples shows the phase combination and morphological structure of the powder depend on the annealing temperature. The heat treatment changes the structure of LaPO₄ from cuboid rods to fine grains at about 600 °C. The emission spectrum of LaPO₄ shows the broad emission band at 368 nm and shoulder at 465 nm with emission of blue color when monitored at an excitation wavelength at 256 nm. The stability of phosphor has been studied with respect to humidity, temperature, doping, doping concentration, γ‐ray exposures, etc. The prepared nanosized phosphors were thermally stable and may be a promising blue phosphor for lighting technology as well as radiation dosimetry. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.