Hydrothermal synthesis, structure study and luminescent properties of YbPO4:Tb3+ nanoparticles

YbPO4:Tb3+ were synthesized by mild hydrothermal method. The luminescent properties, morphologies and structure of the obtained powders were characterized by photoluminescence (PL) spectra, FESEM, X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and FTIR. The results showed that the prepared YbPO4:Tb3+ nanoparticles were pure tetragonal phase and the average grain size varied with increasing of Tb3+ concentration. Hydrothermal temperature was revealed to be the key factor to enhance the emission intensity of YbPO4:Tb3+ phosphors. The spherical nanoparticles could be effectively excited by near UV (369 nm) light and exhibited green performance at 543 nm (D-5(4)-> F-7(5)), 489 nm (D-5(4)-> F-7(6)) and 586 nm (D-5(4)-> F-7(4)). The CIE chromaticity was calculated to be x=0.298, y=0.560. The YbPO4:Tb3+ nanoparticles exhibited potential to act as UV absorber for solar cells to enhance the conversion efficiency.