Electrospinning Preparation and Photoluminescence Properties of Lanthanum Phosphate Nanowires and Nanotubes

In this paper, europium lanthanum phosphate nanowires and nanotubes were fabricated by the electrospinning method for the first time. By changing the ratio of PVP to the inorganic precursors, ultralong, uniform, and size-controllable nanowires/nanotubes were obtained, ranging of 60 to 300 nm. The average wall thicknesses of the nanotubes were similar to 20 nm. The structure properties were characterized systematically by FE-SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR, and ESR techniques. The results indicate that as the ratio of PVP to the inorganic decreased, a phase transition from LaPO4 to La3PO4 gradually occurred and the formation mechanism was proposed. The studies on photoluminescence indicated that the emission intensity, lifetime, and intensity ratio of D-5(0)-F-7(2) to D-5(0)-F-7(1), all depended strongly on the structure of the electrospinnig products. This work is important for both the synthesis of novel one-dimensional nanophosphors and understanding of their unique physical properties.