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Structure and Luminescence of Europium-Doped Gadolinia-Based Core/Multi-Shell Scintillation Nanoparticles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Teng-Kuan Tseng ,
Jihun Choi  and
Paul H. Holloway
Teng-Kuan Tseng
Affiliation:
[email protected], University of Florida, Materials Science and Engineering, Gainesville, Florida, United States
Jihun Choi
Affiliation:
[email protected], University of Florida, Materials Science and Engineering, Gainesville, Florida, United States
Paul H. Holloway
Affiliation:
[email protected], University of Florida, Materials Science and Engineering, Gainesville, Florida, United States
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Abstract

Scintillating nanoparticles with a SiO2 core and a Gd2O3 shell doped with Eu3+ were synthesized with a sol-gel process. Based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) data, a ∼13 nm Gd2O3 shell was successfully coated onto ∼220 nm mono-dispersed SiO2 nanocores. Eu3+ ions at concentrations of nominally 5 at% exhibited photoluminescent (PL) emission from the SiO2/Gd2O3 nanoparticles after being calcined at 800 0C for 2 h. The SiO2 remained amorphous after calcining, while the Gd2O3 crystallized to a cubic structure. The PL emission was from the 5D0-7F2 transitions of Eu3+ at 609 and 622 nm. Photoluminescence excitation (PLE) data showed that emission from Eu3+ could result from direct excitation, but was dominated by the oxygen to europium charge-transfer band (CTB) between 250 and 280 nm for Eu3+ doped in Gd2O3. The quantum yield (QY) from thin films drop cast from a mixture of 20 mg of calcined nanoparticles in 500 μL of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and excited in the CTB was 20% for SiO2/Gd2O3:Eu3+ core/shell scintillation nanoparticles. Finally, the above core/shell nanoparticles were passivated with a shell of SiO2 to create e.g. SiO2/Gd2O3:Eu3+/SiO2 nanoparticles. The QYs for this nanostructure were lower than unpassivated nanoparticles which was attributed to a weak CTB for the amorphous SiO2 shell and a higher density of interface quenching sites.

Keywords

core/shellnanostructuresol-gel
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1164: Symposium L – Nuclear Radiation Detection Materials–2009 , 2009 , 1164-L11-01
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

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