Photoluminescence and thermoluminescence properties of BaGa2O4
- Authors: Noto, L L , Poelman, D , Orante-Barrón, V R , Swart, H C , Mathevula, Langutani E , Nyenge, R , Chithambo, Makaiko L , Mothudi, B M , Dhlamini, M S
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/116037 , vital:34292 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2017.07.059
- Description: Rare–Earth free luminescent materials are fast becoming important as the cost of rare earth ions gradually increases. In this work, a Rare–Earth free BaGa2O4 luminescent compound was prepared by solid state chemical reaction, which was confirmed to have a single phase by X-ray Diffraction. The Backscattered Electron image and Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy maps confirmed irregular particle and homogeneous compound formation, respectively. The Photoluminescence spectrum displayed broad emission between 350 to 650 nm, which was deconvoluted into two components. The photoluminescence excitation peak was positioned at 254 nm, which corresponds with the band-to-band position observed from the diffuse reflectance spectrum. The band gap was extrapolated to 4.65 ± 0.02 eV using the Kubelka-Munk model. The preliminary thermoluminescence results indicated that the kinetics involved were neither of first nor second order. Additionally, the activation energy of the electrons within the trap centres was approximated to 0.61 ± 0.01 eV using the Initial Rise model.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2018
Structural and optical properties of sol-gel derived α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles
- Authors: Mathevula, Langutani E , Noto, L L , Mothudi, Bakang M , Chithambo, Makaiko L , Dhlamini, M S
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115467 , vital:34145 , DOI: 10.1016/j.jlumin.2017.07.055
- Description: α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles of crystallite size between 3.9 and 9.5 nm were synthesized by a simple sol-gel method using iron (III) nitrate nonahydrate (Fe(NO3)3·9H2O) as a precursor. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was added as a capping agent to avoid agglomeration of the nanoparticles. A single pure phase was obtained when the sample was annealed at 300 °C and 600 °C. The purity was further confirmed with the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The energy band gap of the materials was extrapolated from the Kubelka-Munk relation and it ranges between 1.8 and 2.3 eV. The Photoluminescence of the 3 samples shows a broad emission spectrum centered at about 422 nm when excited by a 336 nm lamp. The emission peaks intensities increased with an increase in the annealing temperature, accept for the 576 nm peak, which was quenched as the temperature increased from 300 °C to 600 °C. The thermoluminescence glow curves were carried out at different heating rates and the samples were exposed to different beta particle doses (82–1315 Gy). The activation energy of the trapped electrons was determined.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2017