Sintered silica bodies with persistent luminescence

Abstract Strong persistent luminescence (PeL) from silica bodies was obtained, for the first time, by sintering silica powder mixed with PeL SrAl 2 O 4 :Eu 2+ ,Dy 3+ microparticles (MPs). We show that it is not possible to prepare transparent PeL silica glass due to the decomposition of the MPs, which occurs already at 1450 °C. The MPs decomposition was associated with the precipitation of Sr 3 Al 10 SiO 20 phase when sintering up to 1650 °C and of SrAl 2 Si 2 O 8 when sintering between 1650 and 1750 °C. Cristobalite was found to also precipitate when sintering for 10 min but has no impact on the PeL of the bodies.