Microwave-Facilitated Sensitization Route Boosting Efficiency, Thermostability, and Multifunction of Nanophosphors

Abstract

Rare earth-activated nanophosphors (NPs) have attracted significant attention due to their promising applications in compact and portable optoelectronic devices. However, limited by inherent nanoscale effects, achieving stable and efficient luminescence remains a long-standing challenge. Herein, we developed microwave-facilitated Ce sensitization engineering to obtain desirable green-emitting NaSrY(PO₄)₂ (NSYP):Tb NPs. Compared to NSYP:Tb, benefiting from highly efficient Ce–Tb energy transfer, NSYP:Ce,Tb exhibits a 45.8-fold enhancement in green emission intensity, along with exceptional internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of 82.2% and outstanding thermostability (93% intensity retention at 423 K). For health lighting, the NSYP:Ce,Tb NPs enable a high-quality white lighting source with remarkable color rendering index of 94. For multimodal non-contact thermometry, it can realize superior relative sensitivities across broad temperature ranges (2.28% K⁻¹ at 473 K and 2.20% K⁻¹ at 298 K). For X-ray imaging, it reaches a spatial resolution of up to 18.1 lp/mm, which surpasses commercially mainstream scintillators by above 70%. This study provides a microwave-facilitated sensitization route for multifunctional nanomaterials with high performance.

Keywords

energy transfer / green emission / microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis / nanophosphor

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2025 The Author(s). Aggregate published by SCUT, AIEI, and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.