Controllable synthesis of Eu ³⁺ ‐doped Y ₂ O ₃ nanocrystal/g‐C ₃ N ₄ composites with tunable fluorescence

Abstract

ABSTRACT The application of graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) has been restricted in some optoelectronics fields due to its narrow tunable emission region. In order to engineer the optical properties, herein we combine Eu 3+ :Y 2 O 3 nanocrystals with g‐C 3 N 4 to control its electronic structure. Surprisingly, with the increasing concentration of Eu 3+ :Y 2 O 3 nanocrystals, the photoluminescence of Eu 3+ :Y 2 O 3 /g‐C 3 N 4 (EYCN) showed a continuous red shift in comparison with pure g‐C 3 N 4 from blue to green. In EYCN composites, the Eu 3+ :Y 2 O 3 nanocrystals as electron donors, can improve the degree of electron delocalization and narrow the bandgap. Importantly, the EYCN composites not only maintain the intrinsic blue‐green emission of g‐C 3 N 4 , but also introduce the red light of Eu 3+ ions. Based on the EYCN composites, white light‐emitting diode (WLED) were fabricated with a Commission International de L’Eclairage value of (0.3631, 0.3560). This work proposes a new kind of luminescent g‐C 3 N 4 ‐based composites, which is expected to broaden its applications in optoelectronics field.