Morphological and optical characteristics of Y₂O₃:Eu phosphor particles prepared by flame spray pyrolysis

Y₂O₃:Eu phosphor particles were prepared by flame spray pyrolysis and compared with the particles prepared by general spray pyrolysis. The particles prepared by flame spray pyrolysis had a spherical and dense morphology and were finer than the particles prepared by general spray pyrolysis. Flame temperature was an important factor in the preparation of the phosphor particles by flame spray pyrolysis. To obtain Y₂O₃:Eu particles with a uniformly dense structure, a sufficiently high temperature to form monoclinic phase was required. Too low flame temperature generated nonspherical and hollow particles with cubic phase because the particles did not melt completely, and too high flame temperature of flame generated many nanoparticles due to evaporation. After stepwise post-treatment of as-prepared particles with monoclinic phase and the dense structure, Y₂O₃:Eu phosphor particles with high brightness and cubic phase were obtained. The Y₂O₃:Eu phosphor particles prepared by flame spray pyrolysis showed 120% photoluminescence intensity in comparison with the particles prepared by general spray pyrolysis.