Highly Stable Orange-Red Long-Persistent Luminescent CsCdCl3 :Mn2+ Perovskite Crystal.

Halide perovskite has been widely studied as a new generation of photoelectronic materials. However, their thermal and humidity-induced emission quenching have greatly limited their utility and reliability. Here, we report a hexagonal Mn2+ -doped CsCdCl3 perovskite crystal that possesses stable photoluminescence (PL) at both high temperature and humidity. The room temperature long-persistent luminescence (LPL) of the single crystals lasts up to 1480 s and can be adjusted by changing the concentration of Mn2+ ion doping. The characteristic emission of d-d transition of Mn2+ is realized, and the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) is up to 91.4 %, it can maintain more than 90 % of the initial PL spectral integral area at 150 °C (423 K). High humid stability PL can be achieved more than 75 % of the initial PL intensity after 55 days of immersion in water. These excellent properties show the application prospect of the LPL material in lighting indication and anti-counterfeiting.

Novel Cyan-Green-Emitting Bi3+-Doped BaScO2F, R+ (R = Na, K, Rb) Perovskite Used for Achieving Full-Visible-Spectrum LED Lighting.

Cyan-emitting phosphors are important for near-ultraviolet (NUV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to gain high-quality white lighting. In the present work, a Bi3+-doped BaScO2F, R+ (R = Na, K, Rb) perovskite, which emits 506 nm cyan-green light under 360 or 415 nm excitation, is obtained via a high-temperature solid-state method for the first time. The obtained perovskite shows improved photoluminescence and thermal stability due to the charge compensation of Na+, K+, and Rb+ co-doping. Its spectral broadening is attributed to two centers Bi (1) and Bi (2), which are caused by the zone-boundary octahedral tilting due to the substitution of Bi3+ for the larger Ba2+. Employing the blend phosphors of Ba0.998ScO2F:0.001Bi3+,0.001K+ and the commercial BAM:Eu2+, YAG:Ce3+, and CaAlSiN3:Eu2+, a full-spectrum white LED device with Ra = 96 and CCT = 4434 K was fabricated with a 360 nm NUV chip. Interestingly, a novel strategy is proposed: the cyan-green Ba0.998ScO2F:0.001Bi3+,0.001K+ and orange Sr3SiO5:Eu2+ phosphors were packaged with a 415 nm NUV chip to produce the white LED with Ra = 85 and CCT = 4811 K.

Enhancing Structural Rigidity via a Strategy Involving Protons for Creating Water-Resistant Mn4+-Doped Fluoride Phosphors.

The poor water resistance property of a commercial Mn4+-activated narrow-band red-emitting fluoride phosphor restricts its promising applications in high-performance white LEDs and wide-gamut displays. Herein, we develop a structural rigidity-enhancing strategy using a novel KHF2:Mn4+ precursor as a Mn source to construct a proton-containing water-resistant phosphor K2(H)TiF6:Mn4+ (KHTFM). The parasitic [HMnF6]- complexes in the interstitial site from the fall off the KHF2:Mn4+ are also transferred to the K2TiF6 host by ion exchange to form KHTFM with rigid bonding networks, improving the water resistance and thermostability of the sample. The KHTFM sample retains at least 92% of the original emission value after 180 min of water immersion, while the non-water-resistant K2TiF6:Mn4+(KTFM) phosphor maintains only 23%. Therefore, these findings not only illustrate the effect of protons on fluoride but also provide a novel insight into commercial water-resistant fluoride phosphors.

Tunable spectrum resemblance of LED lights for improving the photosynthetic action of Chinese Cabbages.

To increase efficiency, and reduce energy loss and waste, we propose to improve the photosynthetic action spectrum resemblance (SRPAS) of LED light with the absorption spectra of the fresh leaf, for accelerating the growth of Chinese Cabbages. Eight spectral LED lights were adopted to irradiate Chinese Cabbages under 150 µmol•m-2 s-1 for a 16 hd-1 photoperiod. Of these, under the irradiation of blue + broad red + more yellow (BRY2) light with high spectrum resemblance of 75%, the fresh weight and dry weight are 5.1times and 3.0 times, respectively, and the leaf area and leaf number are 1.7 times, as high as under the blue light. The results demonstrate that the optimized LED light can be presumed to have the highest spectrum resemblance (SRPAS) with the absorption spectra of Chinese Cabbages, and the highest energy-conversion efficiency. These conclusions may be of great benefit to further assess and find either an ideal light applied for plant growth or design of better light sources for growing different plants.

Phase Transformation of a K2GeF6 Polymorph for Phosphors Driven by a Simple Precipitation-Dissolution Equilibrium and Ion Exchange.

Tuning crystal phase transformations is very important for obtaining polymorphs for phosphors with the ideal optical properties and stability. Mn4+-doped K2GeF6 (KGF) is a typical polymorphic phosphor, but the thermodynamic and kinetic mechanism of its phase transformation is still unclear. Herein, the phase transformation of polymorphs varying from P63mc KGF and trigonal KGF to P63mc Si4+-doped KGF is realized by introducing the synergistic action of an HF solution and Si4+ ions. The full structural refinements of KGF polymorphs at room temperature and the electronic band structure calculations were performed. The results show that the Si4+-doped hexagonal KGF polymorph with good photoluminescence properties is the most stable phase according to the calculated total energy landscape and relative formation energy. The morphologic changes were monitored in situ to clearly understand the rapid phase transformation mechanism, which proves that the phase transformation is driven by a simple precipitation-dissolution equilibrium and ionic exchange.

Interfacial engineering of Mo2C-Mo3C2 heteronanowires for high performance hydrogen evolution reactions.

Non-precious metal-based electrocatalysts with high activity and stability for efficient hydrogen evolution reactions are of critical importance for low-cost and large-scale water splitting. In this work, Mo2C-Mo3C2 heteronanowires with significantly enhanced catalytic performance are constructed from an MoAn precursor via an accurate phase transition process. The structure disordering and surface carbon shell of Mo2C-Mo3C2 heteronanowires can be precisely regulated, resulting in an enlarged surface area and a defect-rich catalytic surface. Density functional theory calculations are used to identify the effect of the defective sites and carbon shell on the free energy for hydrogen adsorption in hydrogen evolution. Meanwhile, the synergistic effect between different phases and the introduced lattice defects of Mo2C-Mo3C2 are considered to enhance the HER catalytic performance. The designed catalyst exhibits optimal electrocatalytic activity in both acidic and alkaline media: low overpotentials of 134 and 116 mV at 10 mA cm-2, a small Tafel slope of 64 mV dec-1, and a long-term stability for 5000 cycles. This work will provide new insights into the design of high-efficiency HER catalysts via interfacial engineering at the nanoscale for commercial water splitting.

Color-tunable photoluminescence and energy transfer of (Tb1-x Mn x )3Al2(Al1-x Si x )3O12:Ce3+ solid solutions for white light emitting diodes.

(Tb1-x Mn x )3Al2(Al1-x Si x )3O12:Ce3+ solid solution phosphors were synthesized by introducing the isostructural Mn3Al2(SiO4)3 (MAS) into Tb3Al5O12:Ce3+ (TbAG). Under 456 nm excitation, (Tb1-x Mn x )3Al2(Al1-x Si x )3O12:Ce3+ shows energy transfers (ET) in the host, which can be obtained from the red emission components to enhance color rendering. Moreover, (Tb1-x Mn x )3Al2(Al1-x Si x )3O12:Ce3+ (x = 0-0.2) exhibits substantial spectral broadening (68 → 86 nm) due to the 5d → 4f transition of Ce3+ and the 4T1 → 6A1 transition of Mn2+. The efficiency of energy transfer (η T, Ce3+ → Mn2+) gradually increases with increasing Mn2+ content, and the value reach approximately 32% at x = 0.2. Namely, the different characteristics of luminescence evolution based on the effect of structural variation by substituting the (MnSi)6+ pair for the larger (TbAl)6+ pair. Therefore, with structural evolution, the luminescence of the solid solution phosphors could be tuned from yellow to orange-red, tunable by increasing the content of MAS for the applications of white light emitting diodes (wLED).

Improving "color rendering" of LED lighting for the growth of lettuce.

Light plays a vital role on the growth and development of plant. On the base of white light with high color rendering to the benefit of human survival and life, we proposed to improve "color rendering" of LED lighting for accelerating the growth of lettuce. Seven spectral LED lights were adopted to irradiate the lettuces under 150 µmol·m-2·s-1 for a 16 hd-1 photoperiod. The leaf area and number profiles, plant biomass, and photosynthetic rate under the as-prepared LED light treatments were investigated. We let the absorption spectrum of fresh leaf be the emission spectrum of ideal light and then evaluate the "color rendering" of as-prepared LED lights by the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and CIE chromaticity coordinates. Under the irradiation of red-yellow-blue light with high correlation coefficient of 0.587, the dry weights and leaf growth rate are 2-3 times as high as the sharp red-blue light. The optimized LED light for lettuce growth can be presumed to be limited to the angle (about 75°) between the vectors passed through the ideal light in the CIE chromaticity coordinates. These findings open up a new idea to assess and find the optimized LED light for plant growth.