Transparent sol-gel oxyfluoride glass-ceramics with high crystalline fraction and study of re incorporation

Transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramic films and self-supported layers with composition 80SiO2-20LaF3 doped with Er3+ have been successfully synthesized by sol-gel process for the first time. Crack-free films and self-supported layer with a maximum thickness up to 1.4 µm were obtained after heat trea...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gorni, Giulio, Velázquez, José J., Mosa Ruiz, Jadra, Mather, Glenn C., Serrano, Aida, Vila, María, Castro, Germán Rafael, Bravo Roldán, David, Balda, Rolindes, Fernández, Joaquín, Durán, Alicia, Castro, Yolanda
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/715008
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/715008
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano9040530
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Glass-ceramic
oxyfluoride
rare-earth
crystallization
sol-gel
Física
Descripción
Sumario:Transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramic films and self-supported layers with composition 80SiO2-20LaF3 doped with Er3+ have been successfully synthesized by sol-gel process for the first time. Crack-free films and self-supported layer with a maximum thickness up to 1.4 µm were obtained after heat treatment at the low temperature of 550 ◦C for 1 min, resulting in a LaF3 crystal fraction of 18 wt%, as confirmed by quantitative Rietveld refinement. This is the highest value reported up to now for transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramics prepared by sol-gel. This work provides a new synthesis strategy and opens the way to a wide range of potential applications of oxyfluoride glass-ceramics. The characterization by a wide range of techniques revealed the homogeneous precipitation of LaF3 nanocrystals into the glass matrix. X-ray absorption spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance confirmed that the Er3+ ions are preferentially embedded in the low phonon-energy LaF3 nanocrystals. Moreover, photoluminescence (PL) measurements confirmed the incorporation of dopants in the LaF3 nanocrystals. The effective concentration of rare-earth ions in the LaF3 nanocrystals is also estimated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy