Issue 17, 2015

Garnet-based Li6CaLa2Sb2O12:Eu3+ red phosphors: a potential color-converting material for warm white light-emitting diodes

Abstract

To alleviate the issues of low thermal stability and high correlated color temperature, exploring an inorganic color converter with both yellow- and red-emissions to replace the conventional resin/silicone-based phosphor converter for obtaining high-power warm white light-emitting diodes is highly desired. In this study, a series of garnet-based Li6CaLa2−2xEu2xSb2O12 (x = 0.1–1.0) red phosphors have been successfully synthesized by a conventional high-temperature solid-state method. The microstructure and luminescence properties were systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction, emission/excitation spectra, luminescence lifetimes and temperature-dependent decays. The as-synthesized phosphors exhibited a highly efficient red luminescence at 611 nm corresponding to the 5D07F2 electric dipole transition of Eu3+, and the luminescence monotonously enhanced as the Eu3+ content was increased to 100 mol%. The absence of concentration quenching was ascribed to the large Eu3+–Eu3+ distance (7.048–7.105 Å) and subsequently the hindering of unwanted energy migration among them in the Li6CaLa2Sb2O12 crystalline lattice. Impressively, the Li6CaLaEuSb2O12 phosphor showed an excellent thermal stability with only 9.7% emission loss when the recording temperature was increased from 293 K to 553 K. To evaluate the suitability of Li6CaLa2Sb2O12:Eu3+ as a red converter, both the garnet-based Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ yellow and Li6CaLa2Sb2O12:Eu3+ red phosphor co-doped glass ceramics were successfully fabricated by a low-temperature co-sintering technique. Importantly, the adverse energy transfers between Ce3+ and Eu3+ were efficiently suppressed due to the spatial separation of Ce3+ in Y3Al5O12 and Eu3+ in Li6CaLa2Sb2O12 in the crystal lattice. As a consequence, the quantum yield of the glass ceramic reached as high as 89.3%, and the constructed white light-emitting diode exhibited an optimal luminous efficacy of 101 lm W−1, a correlated color temperature of 5449 K and a color rendering index of 73.7. It is expected that the developed Li6CaLa2−2xEu2xSb2O12 red phosphors and the related glass ceramics should have potential applications in high-power warm white light-emitting diodes.

Graphical abstract: Garnet-based Li6CaLa2Sb2O12:Eu3+ red phosphors: a potential color-converting material for warm white light-emitting diodes

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Mar 2015
Accepted
20 Mar 2015
First published
20 Mar 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015,3, 4500-4510

Author version available

Garnet-based Li6CaLa2Sb2O12:Eu3+ red phosphors: a potential color-converting material for warm white light-emitting diodes

J. Zhong, D. Chen, W. Zhao, Y. Zhou, H. Yu, L. Chen and Z. Ji, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015, 3, 4500 DOI: 10.1039/C5TC00708A

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