Hydrothermal synthesis, structure study and luminescent properties of YbPO₄:Tb³⁺ nanoparticles

YbPO₄:Tb³⁺ were synthesized by mild hydrothermal method. The luminescent properties, morphologies and structure of the obtained powders were characterized by photoluminescence (PL) spectra, FESEM, X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and FTIR. The results showed that the prepared YbPO ₄:Tb³⁺ nanoparticles were pure tetragonal phase and the average grain size varied with increasing of Tb³⁺ concentration. Hydrothermal temperature was revealed to be the key factor to enhance the emission intensity of YbPO₄:Tb³⁺ phosphors. The spherical nanoparticles could be effectively excited by near UV (369 nm) light and exhibited green performance at 543 nm (⁵D₄→ ⁷F₅), 489 nm (⁵D₄→ ⁷F₆) and 586 nm (⁵D₄→ ⁷F₄). The CIE chromaticity was calculated to be x=0.298, y=0.560. The YbPO₄:Tb³⁺ nanoparticles exhibited potential to act as UV absorber for solar cells to enhance the conversion efficiency.