Thermal and photoluminescence properties of hydrated YPO4:Eu3+ nanowires

In this work, we used the solution precipitation route to synthesize Eu{sup 3+}-doped YPO{sub 4}.nH{sub 2}O nanowires. The structure, morphology, composition, thermal behavior, and photoluminescence of as-synthesized product were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopic (FE-SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The dependence of the structure, morphology, composition and luminescent properties on the thermal treatment was investigated. The results indicate that the aqueous synthesis has a better control on the structure, morphology, composition of the products, and that the heat treatment induces the transitions of the structure, composition, and luminescent properties. - Graphical abstract: The emission efficiency of the sample annealed at 250 deg. C is about six times as high as that of as-synthesized sample. This is attributed primarily to the coordinated water as the nonradiative relaxation pathways in the as-synthesized sample.