6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
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Influence of sol-gel, combustion, and solid-state synthesis methods on the structural and photoluminescence properties of Zn4B6O13 : xEu3+ phosphor materials for LEDs applications.

9 Jul 2026, 15:00
20m
Lecture Hall GH1 (University of the Western Cape)

Lecture Hall GH1

University of the Western Cape

Oral Presentation Track A - Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials

Speaker

Athenkosi Siyalo (University of the Western Cape)

Description

Zn₄B₆O₁₃:xEu³⁺ (x = 1%) phosphor materials were successfully synthesized using three methods, sol-gel, combustion, and solid-state, to investigate the influence of each synthesis method on the structural and photoluminescence properties of the prepared materials. The cubic crystal structure was confirmed in all synthesis methods via the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed smooth-like morphologies with sharp edges for the sol-gel and heterogeneous morphology for the combustion method, which included hexagonal-like structures. Moreover, largely agglomerated cubic-like particles were observed in the solid-state method. The average particle size distribution ranged from 500 to 890 nm for all methods. To evaluate photoluminescence emission properties, the samples were excited at two wavelengths, 246 and 395 nm. Intense photoluminescence emission was observed at approximately 615 nm for both excitation wavelengths across all synthesis methods; however, there were some variations in emission intensity across the synthesis methods. An intense emission peak at 615 is ascribed to 5D₀ → 7F₂ electric dipole transitions of Eu³⁺, implying efficient energy transfer between Zn₄B₆O₁₃ and Eu³⁺. The sol-gel method produced intense emission compared to other methods, meaning it is the most optimized method. The photoluminescence intensity exhibited the following trend: sol-gel > solid-state > combustion. The chromaticity diagram revealed that all prepared phosphor materials exhibited red-color emissions. Red-coloured emissions indicate successful incorporation of Eu³⁺ ions into the host lattice. The synthesized phosphor materials are potential candidates for red LEDs in solid-state lighting.

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Author

Athenkosi Siyalo (University of the Western Cape)

Co-authors

Prof. Leelakrishna Reddy (University of Johannesburg) Prof. Sylvain Halindintwali (University of the Western Cape)

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