A study of polylactic Acid/K2SiF6:Mn4+ composite luminescent materials: design, preparation, and properties

Abstract K 2 SiF 6 :Mn 4+ (KSF) has been the most representative red emitting fluoride phosphors thanks to its cheap production cost and excellent luminescence properties. Nevertheless, the photoluminescent properties of this phosphor are limited due to intrinsically poor water resistance. In this work, constructing composite luminescent materials by blending KSF with polylactic acid (PLA) polymer was developed using the melt mixing process. The tactic not only makes full use of the photoluminescent properties of KSF, but also enhances the moisture resistance ability by alleviating or suppressing hydrolysis. The photoluminescent spectra, temperature-dependence emitting spectra, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and wide-angle x-ray scattering were conducted to study the morphology, thermal stability and photoluminescent properties of the KSF@PLA composite luminescent materials. KSF was evenly distributed in PLA. Furthermore, the influence of the doping amount of KSF on the structure and properties of PLA was systematically studied and the optimal doping amount of KSF in PLA was determined to be 10%, marked as KSF@PLA 3. Finally, KSF@PLA 3 exhibited excellent moisture resistance ability and thermal stability. After soaking in deionized water for 7 days, the emission intensity of KSF@PLA 3 is almost consistent with the original emission intensity.