Dr. Amit Kumar Gupta
Microspheres covered with micro cuboids/nanorods and nanoparticles of BaHPO4/Ba3 (PO4)2/Ba5 (PO4)3OH phases have been successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal (HT) method using the citric acid as a surfactant at different pH values. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and fluorescence spectrometry were used to characterize the samples. It was found that the pH value was a crucial factor for the phase formation and shape determination of the final products, which were discussed in detail. Attractively, the as-prepared BaHPO4/Ba3 (PO4)2/Ba5 (PO4)3OH samples emitted an intense blue light in a broad band from 380 to 625 nm, for which the mechanism was complex ions luminescence originating from the transition of 3T1 → 1A1 in PO43−. Meanwhile, an obvious red shift for the emission band was observed between nano- and bulk-Ba3 (PO4)2 synthesized by HT and conventional solid-state (CSS) reactions, respectively, which was due to the effect of the product being nanosized.