Au@Y2O3:Eu3+ rare earth oxide hollow sub-microspheres with encapsulated gold nanoparticles and their optical properties

A facile method to synthesize novel Au@Y2O3:Eu3+ hollow sub-microspheres encapsulated with moveable gold nanoparticle core and Y2O3:Eu3+ as shell via two-step coating processes and a succeeding calcination process has been developed. Silica coating on citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles with a size of 25 nm can be obtained through a slightly modified Stober process. Gold particles coated with double shell silica and Eu doped Y(OH)(3) can be obtained by coating on the Au@SiO2 spheres through simply adding Y(NO3)(3), Eu(NO3)(3) and an appropriate quantity of NH3 center dot H2O. Au@Y2O3:Eu3+ hollow sub-microspheres with moveable individual An nanoparticle as core can be obtained after calcination of Au@Y2O3:Eu3+ particles at 600 degrees C for 2 h. These new core-shell structures with encapsulated gold nanoparticles have combined optical properties of both the Au nanoparticles and the Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphor materials which might have potential applications. (c) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.