Synthesis and Properties of Sub-50-nm Europium Oxide Nanoparticles

✍ Scribed by G. Wakefield; H.A. Keron; P.J. Dobson; J.L. Hutchison

• Book ID: 102584739
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 258 KB
• Volume: 215
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9797
• DOI: 10.1006/jcis.1999.6225

✦ Synopsis

Eu2O3 nanocrystals are synthesized by a colloidal precipitation route in the size range 2-40 nm. The nanocrystals are passivated with a surface layer of trioctyl phosphine oxide (TOPO) in order to eliminate surface recombination effects. When pumped at 254 nm (4f --> 5d transition) the nanocrystals exhibit red luminescence characteristic of 5D0 --> 7Fn Eu3+ transitions within the cubic form of Eu2O3. The efficiency of the luminescence is increased by a factor of five as the particle size drops below 10 nm; it is suggested that confinement of the long lifetime Eu3+ excitation within the nanocrystal is responsible for this effect. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.