Uniform lanthanide-doped Y2O3 hollow microspheres: Controlled synthesis and luminescence properties

Abstract Lanthanide-doped uniform pure cubic phase Y 2 O 3 hollow microspheres have been successfully synthesized via a facile, high yield urea-based coprecipitation route with assistant of carbon spheres templates. The diameter and shell thickness of the microspheres can be manipulated by adjusting carbon sphere templates. Under a 980 nm excitation, Yb 3+ /Er 3+ , Er 3+ , Yb 3+ /Tm 3+ -doped Y 2 O 3 hollow microspheres emit bright upconversion red, green, blue light with high purity, respectively, while Eu 3+ , Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ -doped Y 2 O 3 hollow microspheres exhibit intense downconversion red light under the excitation of 254 nm ultraviolet light. Especially, the 610 nm emission intensity of Eu 3+ in the Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ -codoped Y 2 O 3 hollow microspheres is almost 5 times of that in the Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ hollow microspheres indicating the occurring of the energy transfer from Tb 3+ to Eu 3+ ions.