A novel blue-emitting Ba5(BO3)2(B2O5):Ce3+ phosphor for application in near-UV white LEDs

The blue-emitting phosphor Ba-5(BO3)(2)(B2O5): Ce3+ was synthesized by a high-temperature solid-state method. Its crystal structure, luminescence properties, concentration-quenching mechanism and thermal stability were investigated. This phosphor can be effectively excited by 351-nm near-ultraviolet light, with a broad blue emission band. The emission spectra of the Ba-5(BO3)(2)(B2O5): Ce3+ phosphor were clearly monitored with critical emission quenching as a function of the Ce3+ content. It was further proven that the energy transfer among the nearest-neighbor ions results in the concentration quenching of Ce3+ in Ba-5(BO3)(2)(B2O5). The dependence of the luminescent intensity on the charge-compensated (Li+, Na+, K+) was also discussed. Ba-5(BO3)(2)(B2O5): Ce3+ phosphors can be effectively excited by near-UV light and simultaneously exhibit excellent luminescence resistibility against thermal quenching in the temperature range from 300 to 400 K. The activation energy Delta E is calculated to be 0.21 eV. The present work suggests that the Ba-5(BO3)(2)(B2O5): Ce3+ phosphor is a promising material for near-UV chip-based white LEDs. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.