Ca[B8 O11 (OH)4 ] : Eu2+ - A Highly Efficient Deep Blue-Emitting Phosphor Prepared by Low-Temperature Self-reduction

Abstract

Highly efficient inorganic phosphors are crucial for solid-state lighting. In this paper, a new method of low-temperature self-reduction was used for preparing a highly efficient deep blue-emitting phosphor of Ca[B₈ O₁₁ (OH)₄ ] : Eu²⁺ (CBH : Eu²⁺ ). The crystal structure, morphology, chemical state, and photoluminescence (PL) properties of the CBH : Eu²⁺ phosphor have been investigated. By using the screened hybrid function (HSE06), the band gap (E_g ) of CBH was calculated to be 7.48 eV, which is a necessary condition for achieving high quantum yield phosphors. The experiment results show that almost all the added raw materials of Eu³⁺ can be reduced to Eu²⁺ in CBH crystal under a non-reducing atmosphere. The CBH : Eu²⁺ phosphor shows a broad excitation spectrum centered at 277 and 327 nm in the range of 220 to 400 nm, and a narrow-band emission spectrum centered at 428 nm in the range of 400 to 500 nm, with a full width at half maximum (fwhm) of 42.35 nm. Under UV radiation, the CBH : 2 %Eu²⁺ exhibits high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY=95.0 %), high external quantum efficiency (EQE=31.1 %), and ultra-high color purity (97.6 %). The PL intensity of CBH : 2 %Eu²⁺ remains 62.6 % of the initial intensity at 150 °C. Finally, the white light-emitting diodes (WLED) fabricated by CBH : 2 %Eu²⁺ , excited by a 365 nm chip, presents outstanding performances with a luminous efficacy (LE) of 13.9 lm/W, a color rendering index (CRI) of 89.4, and a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 5825 K. The above results show that CBH : Eu²⁺ can be used as a promising blue phosphor for WLED. This new method of low-temperature self-reduction can be applied to design and prepare other new types of highly efficient phosphors.

Keywords: blue-emitting phosphor; calcium borate; high quantum yield; low-temperature self-reduction; ultra-high color purity.