Photoluminescence Enhancement of Titanate Nanotubes by Insertion of Rare Earth Ions in Their Interlayer Spaces

Thalles M.F. Marques, Cleanio Luz-Lima, Marco Sacilloti, Kazunori Fujisawa, Nestor Perea-Lopez, Mauricio Terrones, Eder Nascimento Silva, Odair Pastor Ferreira, Bartolomeu Cruz Viana

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

The optical properties of titanate nanotubes (TiNts) intercalated with rare earths (RE) ions were intensively investigated in this study. To prepare the nanomaterials, sodium titanate nanotubes (Na-TiNts) were submitted to ion exchange reactions with different rare earth elements (RE: Pr3+, Er3+, Nd3+, and Yb3+). To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that these RE-TiNts were synthesized. All samples were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Furthermore, the optical properties were examined using photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy. The PL intensity (visible range) of the RE-TiNt samples showed a strong dependence when the temperature was decreased down to 20 K. This PL enhancement probably was promoted by electronic modifications in titanate layer band gap and/or interface charge transfers due to RE ions intercalation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number3809807
JournalJournal of Nanomaterials
Volume2017
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Materials Science(all)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Photoluminescence Enhancement of Titanate Nanotubes by Insertion of Rare Earth Ions in Their Interlayer Spaces'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this