Epitaxial Core/Shell Nanocrystals of (Europium-Doped) Zirconia and Hafnia

Overview

Journal J Am Chem Soc

Publisher American Chemical Society

Specialty Chemistry

Date 2024 Jul 22

PMID 39038812

Authors

Carlotta Seno

Nico Reichholf

Francesco Salutari

Maria Chiara Spadaro

Yurii P Ivanov

Giorgio Divitini

Alexander Gogos

Inge K Herrmann

Jordi Arbiol

Philippe F Smet

Jonathan De Roo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

A careful design of the nanocrystal architecture can strongly enhance the nanocrystal function. So far, this strategy has faced a synthetic bottleneck in the case of refractory oxides. Here we demonstrate the epitaxial growth of hafnia shells onto zirconia cores and pure zirconia shells onto europium-doped zirconia cores. The core/shell structures are fully crystalline. Upon shelling, the optical properties of the europium dopant are dramatically improved (featuring a more uniform coordination and a longer photoluminescence lifetime), indicating the suppression of nonradiative pathways. These results launch the stable zirconium and hafnium oxide hosts as alternatives for the established NaYF systems.

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