Novel 3D octahedral La2Sn2O7:Eu3+ microcrystals: Hydrothermal synthesis and photoluminescence properties

Novel 3D octahedral La2Sn2O7:Eu3+ microcrystals with pyrochlore structure have been synthesized via a hydrothermal route at 180 degrees C for 36 h. The experimental results revealed that the pH value of the precursor Solution not only plays an important role in determining the phase of the as-synthesized products, but also has a significant influence on the morphologies of the samples. High-quality and uniform octahedron with an average size of about 700 nm could be easily obtained at the pH value of 12. The photoluminescence spectra showed that 3D octahedral La2Sn2O7:Eu3+ displayed improved luminescence compared with the samples of with other shapes. The growth mechanism of octahedral La2Sn2O7:Eu3+ microcrystals was briefly proposed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.