(163o) Tunable Luminescence of Rare Earth Doped Nanophosphors Via Adaptive Absorption of Transition Metals
AIChE Annual Meeting
2020
2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Meeting
Materials Engineering and Sciences Division
Poster Session: Materials Engineering & Sciences (08D - Inorganic Materials)
Thursday, November 19, 2020 - 8:00am to 9:00am
Owing to their multifunctionality, chemical stability, and strong optical responses, TiO2:Ni2+ thin films, synthesized via dopant-location controlled sol-gel chemistry, were chosen as the prototypical system for TM doped hosts. The surface of these films was functionalized with surface dipoles to engineer the interfacial energetics. Since these dipoles primarily act at the surface, surface-sensitive X-ray and UV spectroscopic techniques were employed to probe the changes in the electronic and geometric structure of the inorganic film. Additionally, these results were corroborated with first-principles simulations to elucidate the dipole-dopant interactions and deduce a quantitative relationship between the dipole moment and the change in the optoelectronic properties of TiO2:Ni2+. As a proof-of-concept, the photoluminescence spectra of the RE doped core (NaYF4:Er3+) with TM doped shell layer (TiO2:Ni2+) showed an enhancement in the emission intensity of the Er3+, suggesting energy transfer between the Er3+-Ni2+ ions. Further, surface functionalization of these core-shell nanoparticles demonstrated adaptive absorption of Ni2+, indicating potentiality for dynamic luminescence. Ultimately, these tunable luminescent nanophosphors will reduce the RE dependence in clean energy technologies, especially LED lighting.