Photoluminescence Properties of LaF 3 :Ce Nanoparticles Embedded in Polyacrylamide

Abstract

Oleic acid coated LaF3:Ce nanoparticles were synthesized and embedded in polyacrylamide through a two-step procedure. In the first step nanoparticles were synthesized by adopting co-precipitation technique and in the second step, nanoparticles were embedded in polyacrylamide (PAM) hydro-gel through the solution route. Nanoparticels were characterized for their crystal structure, particle size, organic coating and photoluminescence behavior using X-ray diffracttion, SEM, TEM, FTIR and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Size of nanoparticles was estimated using the Scherer formula. Polymer nano composite (PNC) material was synthesized with two different weight percent of the nano powder viz 1.634% (termed as NG1) and 0.1664% (termed as NG2). The nanoparticle-polymer composite exhibits emissions at 308 and 370 nm. A comparison of the emission spectrum of LaF3:Ce nano-powder pellet with that of the composite suggests a suppression of emission from the PAM host in the composite.