Tunable luminescence of Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺-doped MgZrO₃: from single doping to co-doping for anti-counterfeiting applications.
- 1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University Roxy 11711 Cairo Egypt [email protected] (+02) 22581243 +201093857165.
Abstract
MgZrO₃ (MZO) has been extensively investigated for its electrical, structural, optical and catalytic properties in environmental applications. However, the fabrication of color-tunable MZO:0.10Tb³⁺, zEu³⁺ [z = 0.005, 0.010, 0.030, 0.050, and 0.070] nanophosphors and their potential applications in anti-counterfeiting inks have not yet been reported. In this work, red-emitting MZO:xEu³⁺, green-emitting MZO:yTb³⁺ nanophosphors, and color-adjustable MZO:0.10Tb³⁺, zEu³⁺ nanophosphors were successfully synthesized using a sol-gel combustion approach. The prepared samples exhibited a highly crystalline structure with a nano cube morphology. The optical band gap gradually decreased with increasing dopant and co-dopant concentrations. Urbach energy analysis indicated a higher degree of structural disorder in the doped samples, particularly in the MZO:yTb³⁺ and co-doped MZO:0.10Tb³⁺, zEu³⁺ compositions. The incorporation of Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ions into the MZO host lattice enabled precise control over the luminescence behavior, allowing systematic tuning of the emission color by adjusting the relative dopant ratios. Under excitation at 280 nm, the co-doped MZO:0.10Tb³⁺, zEu³⁺ nanophosphors exhibited an emission that shifted from the green to the red region through the yellow region, accompanied by long luminescence lifetimes. Furthermore, these co-doped nanophosphors were successfully employed in the formulation of luminescent inks for anti-counterfeiting applications.
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BibTeX
@article{kamal2026tunable,
title = {{Tunable luminescence of Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺-doped MgZrO₃: from single doping to co-doping for anti-counterfeiting applications.}},
author = {R Kamal and M Saif and R Helmy},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra07344a},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42866264},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Tunable luminescence of Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺-doped MgZrO₃: from single doping to co-doping for anti-counterfeiting applications.
AU - R Kamal
AU - M Saif
AU - R Helmy
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra07344a
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42866264
AB - MgZrO₃ (MZO) has been extensively investigated for its electrical, structural, optical and catalytic properties in environmental applications. However, the fabrication of color-tunable MZO:0.10Tb³⁺, zEu³⁺ [z = 0.005, 0.010, 0.030, 0.050, and 0.070] nanophosphors and their potential applications in anti-counterfeiting inks have not yet been reported. In this work, red-emitting MZO:xEu³⁺, green-emitting MZO:yTb³⁺ nanophosphors, and color-adjustable MZO:0.10Tb³⁺, zEu³⁺ nanophosphors were successfully synthesized using a sol-gel combustion approach. The prepared samples exhibited a highly crystalline structure with a nano cube morphology. The optical band gap gradually decreased with increasing dopant and co-dopant concentrations. Urbach energy analysis indicated a higher degree of structural disorder in the doped samples, particularly in the MZO:yTb³⁺ and co-doped MZO:0.10Tb³⁺, zEu³⁺ compositions. The incorporation of Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ions into the MZO host lattice enabled precise control over the luminescence behavior, allowing systematic tuning of the emission color by adjusting the relative dopant ratios. Under excitation at 280 nm, the co-doped MZO:0.10Tb³⁺, zEu³⁺ nanophosphors exhibited an emission that shifted from the green to the red region through the yellow region, accompanied by long luminescence lifetimes. Furthermore, these co-doped nanophosphors were successfully employed in the formulation of luminescent inks for anti-counterfeiting applications.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -