• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.380-386
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• 2008

Optimized volume production of nanoscale phosphor powders synthesized by radio frequency (RF) plasma process was developed for the application to plasma display panels. The nano powders were synthesized by feeding the both solid and liquid type precursors, and nanoparticle phosphors were characterized in terms of particle size, shape, and photoluminescence (PL) intensities. Computer simulation was performed in advance to determine the process parameters, and nano phosphors were evaluated by comparing with current commercial micron-sized phosphor powders. Practical feeding of both solid and liquid type precursor was proved to be effective for volume production.The developed process showed a potential as a production method for red, blue and green phosphor although the PL intensity still needs further improvement.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.12-18
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• 2018

Cost-effective functional phosphor nanoparticles are prepared by introducing low-cost $SiO_2$ spheres to rare-earth phosphor ($YVO_4:Eu^{3+}$, $YVO_4:Er^{3+}$, and $YVO_4:Nd^{3+}$) shells using a sol-gel synthetic method. These functional nanoparticles are characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and general photoluminescence spectra. The $SiO_2$ sphere occupying the interior of the conventional phosphor is advantageous in significantly reducing the cost of expensive rare-earth phosphor nanoparticles. The sol-gel process facilitates the core-shell structure formation; the rare-earth shell phosphor has strong interactions with chelating agents on the surfaces of $SiO_2$ nanoparticles and thus forms layers of several nanometers in thickness. The photoluminescence wavelength is simply tuned by replacing the active materials of $Eu^{3+}$, $Er^{3+}$, and $Nd^{3+}$. Moreover, the photoluminescent properties of the core-shell nanoparticles can be optimized by manipulating the specific contents of active materials in the phosphors. Our simple approach substitutes low-cost $SiO_2$ for expensive rare-earth-based phosphor materials to realize cost-effective phosphor nanoparticles for various applications.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.177-182
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• 2010

To synthesize $Gd_2O_3:Eu^{3+}$ phosphor, gadolinium-europium oxalate precursors were prepared from oxalic acid, NaOH or aqueous ammonia via coprecipitation method. The obtained precursors were heat-treated and then characterized by XRD, SEM and PL. The kinds and amounts of coprecipitant (NaOH or aqueous ammonia) were found to affect the powder morphology and properties of gadolinium-europium oxalate precursors. Two crystalline precursors and one amorphous precursor were synthesized. The nanometer-sized amorphous gadolinium-europium oxalate precursor was first prepared using the oxalate coprecipitation technique. The calcined powders obtained from the amorphous precursor were nearly spherical in shape, and a narrow size distribution was obtained. The NaOH coprecipitant was more effective in the preparation of nanometer-sized spherical powders. A thermal decomposition process was conducted for the three kinds of precursors. The photoluminescence property was also measured as a function of europium content, and concentration quenching occurred for samples with europium concentrations of over 10 mol%.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.2917-2921
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• 2014

Cerium-activated yttrium aluminate ($Y_3Al_5O_{12}:Ce^{3+}$) exhibiting a garnet structure has been widely utilized in the production of light emitting diodes (LEDs) as a yellow emitting phosphor. The commercialized yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) phosphor is typically synthesized by a solid-state reaction, which produces irregular shape particles with a size of several tens of micrometers by using the top-down method. To control the shape and size of particles, which had been the primary disadvantage of top-down synthetic methods, we synthesized YAG:Ce nanoparticles with a diameter of 500 nm using a coprecipitation method under the atmospheric pressure without the use of template or special equipment. The precursor particles were formed by refluxing an aqueous solution of the nitrate salts of Y, Al, and Ce, urea, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (55 K) at $100^{\circ}C$ for 12 h. YAG:Ce nanoparticles were formed by the calcination of precursor particles at $1100^{\circ}C$ for 10 h under atmospheric conditions. The phase identification, microstructure, and photoluminescent properties of the products were evaluated by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, absorption spectrum and photoluminescence analyses.

• Proceedings of the Korea Association of Crystal Growth Conference
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• 2000.06a
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• pp.35-58
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• 2000

The demand for sub-micrometer or nanometer functional ceramic powders with a better suspension behavior in aqueous media in increasing. Redispersible barium titanate (BT) nanocrystals, green light emitting Mn2+ doped Zn$_2$SiO$_4$ and ZnS nanoparticle phosphors were synthesized by a hydrothermal method or chemical precipitation with surface modification. The nanoparticle redispersibility for BT was achieved by using a polymeric surfactant. X-ray diffraction(XRD) results indicated that the BT particles are of cubic phase with 80 nm in size. XRD results of zinc silicate phosphor indicate that seeds play an important role in enhancing the nucleation and crystallization of Zn$_2$SiO$_4$ crystals in a hydrothermal condition. This paper describes and discuss the methods of surface modification, and the resulting related properties for BT, zinc silicate and zinc sulfide.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.463-470
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• 2019

Fe₃O₄/SiO₂/YVO₄:Eu³⁺ multifunctional nanoparticles are successfully synthesized by facile stepwise sol-gel processes. The multifunctional nanoparticles show a spherical shape with narrow size distribution (approximately 40 nm) and the phosphor shells are well crystallized. The Eu³⁺ shows strong photoluminescence (red emission at 619 nm, absorbance at 290 nm) due to an effective energy transfer from the vanadate group to Eu. Core-shell structured multifunctional nanoparticles have superparamagnetic properties at 300 K. Furthermore, the core-shell nanoparticles have a quick response time for the external magnetic field. These results suggest that the photoluminescence and magnetic properties could be easily tuned by either varying the number of coating processes or changing the phosphor elements. The nanoparticles may have potential applications for appropriate fields such as laser systems, optical amplifiers, security systems, and drug delivery materials.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.195-201
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• 2012

$Ce^{3+}$-doped yttrium aluminum gallium garnet (YAGG:$Ce^{3+}$), which is a green-emitting phosphor, was synthesized by solid state reaction using ${\alpha}$-phase or ${\gamma}$-phase of nano-sized $Al_2O_3$ as the Al source. The processing conditions and the chemical composition of phosphor for the maximum emission intensity were optimized on the basis of emission intensity under vacuum UV excitation. The optimum heating temperature for phosphor preparation was $1550^{\circ}C$. Photoluminescence properties of the synthesized phosphor were investigated in detail. From the excitation and emission spectra, it was confirmed that the YAGG:$Ce^{3+}$ phosphors effectively absorb the vacuum UV of 120-200 nm and emit green light positioned around 530 nm. The crystalline phase of the alumina nanoparticles affected the particle size and the luminescence property of the synthesized phosphors. Nano-sized ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ was more effective for the achievement of higher emission intensity than was nano-sized ${\alpha}-Al_2O_3$. This discrepancy is considered to be because the diffusion of $Al^{3+}$ into $Y_2O_3$ lattice is dependent on the crystalline phase of $Al_2O_3$, which affects the phase transformation of YAGG:$Ce^{3+}$ phosphors. The optimum chemical composition, having the maximum emission intensity, was $(Y_{2.98}Ce_{0.02})(Al_{2.8}Ga_{1.8})O_{11.4}$ prepared with ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$. On the other hand, the decay time of the YAGG:$Ce^{3+}$ phosphors, irrespective of the crystalline phase of the nano-sized alumina source, was below 1 ms due to the allowed $5d{\rightarrow}4f$ transition of the $Ce^{3+}$ activator.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.31-34
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• 2013

Trivalent cerium-ion-doped $Y_3(Al,\;Ga)_5O_{12}$ nanoparticle phosphor nanoparticles were synthesized using the reverse micelle process. The Ce doped $Y_3(Al,\;Ga)_5O_{12}$ particles were obtained from nitrate solutions dispersed in the nanosized aqueous domains of a micro emulsion consisting of cyclohexane as the oil phase and poly(oxyethylene) nonylphenyl ether (Igepal CO-520) as the non-ionic surfactant. The crystallinity, morphology, and thermal properties of the synthesized $Y_3(Al,\;Ga)_5O_{12}:Ce^{3+}$ powders were characterized by thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy. The crystallinity, morphology, and chemical states of the ions were characterized; the photo-physical properties were studied by taking absorption, excitation, and emission spectra for various concentrations of cerium. The photo physical properties of the synthesized $Y_3(Al,\;Ga)_5O_{12}:Ce^{3+}$ powders were studied by taking the excitation and emission spectra for various concentrations of cerium. The average particle size of the synthesized YAG powders was below $1{\mu}m$. Excitation spectra of the $Y_3Al_5O_{12}$ and $Y_3Al_{3.97}Ga_{1.03}O_{12}$ samples were 485 nm and 475 nm, respectively. The emission spectra of the $Y_3Al_5O_{12}$ and $Y_3Al_{3.97}Ga_{1.03}O_{12}$ were around 560 nm and 545 nm, respectively. $Y_3(Al,\;Ga)_5O_{12}:Ce^{3+}$ is a red-emitting phosphor; it has a high efficiency for operation under near UV excitation, and may be a promising candidate for photonic applications.