Room-Temperature and Ultrafast Synthesis of Highly Luminescent and Extremely Small Eu3+-Doped YVO4 Nanocrystals

In the past, an Eu3+-doped YVO4 bulk phosphor with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 70% was prepared by a high-temperature solid-state reaction method at 1000 °C for 5 h. In this work, ultrasmall Eu3+-doped YVO4 nanocrystals with a PLQY of 62% are rapidly synthesized by a facile ligand-assisted coprecipitation method at room temperature. The reaction is conducted under ambient conditions and is completed in 1 min. Water and ethanol are used as the solvents, while short-chain butyric acid and butylamine serve as the capping agents. As-prepared nanocrystals are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that Eu3+-doped YVO4 nanocrystals are well dispersed with a particle size of 3.6 nm. The luminescent nanocrystals prepared in this study have three advantages: room temperature preparation, high PLQY, and ultrasmall particle size. These results reveal that Eu3+-doped YVO4 luminescent nanocrystals could have high potential in lighting, display, anti-counterfeiting, and bioimaging.