While persistent luminescence (PersL) at visible and infrared are frequently reported in lanthanide-doped inorganic phosphors for night-vision displays and bio-imaging, an awareness to ultraviolet (UV) PersL remains much less. Here, we have designed Pr³⁺-doped (Ca_1.5Y_1.5)(Al_3.5Si_1.5)O₁₂ (CYAS-Pr) through co-substituting Ca²⁺-Si⁴⁺ into a well-known garnet structure, Y₃Al₅O₁₂. By the strategy of Ca²⁺-Si⁴⁺ co-substitution, the CYAS-Pr exhibits lattice distortion and subsequently an unprecedent UVC and UVB dual-band PersL with maxima at 266 and 311 nm for 12 hours after charged by UV irradiation due to creation of intrinsic trapping centers. The unique PersL performance is contributed by an existence of two different Pr³⁺ environments at Ca²⁺ and Y³⁺ sites of the CYAS host. The CYAS-Pr shows efficient dual information storage and precise long-distance self-sustained “solar-blind” imaging capabilities in a wide and bright field of view. It is expected that the UVC and UVB dual-band PersL CYAS-Pr will find more applications and trigger further exploration towards persistent sterilization and persistent photocatalysis.

Reference:

Xianli Wang and Yuanbing Mao, Achieving UVC and UVB Dual-Band Persistent Luminescence by Manipulating the Garnet Structure, Advanced Optical Materials, 2022, 10(5), 2102157. https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202102157