Complexation of actinides and lanthanides with carboxylic organic ligands is known to facilitate migration of radionuclides from deep geological disposal systems of spent nuclear fuel. In order to examine the ligand-dependent structures of trivalent actinides and lanthanides, a series of Eu(III)-aliphatic dicarboxylate compounds, Eu2(oxalate)3(H2O)6, Eu2(malonate)3(H2O)6, and Eu2(succinate)3(H2O)2, were synthesized and characterized by using X-ray crystallography and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy. Powder X-ray diffraction results captured the transition of the coordination modes of aliphatic dicarboxylate ligands from side-on to end-on binding as the carbon chain length increases. This transition is illustrated in malonate bindings involving a combination of side-on and end-on modes. Strongly enhanced luminescence of these solid compounds, especially on the hypersensitive peak, indicates a low site symmetry of these solid compounds. Luminescence lifetimes of the compounds were measured to be increased, which is ascribed to the displacement of water molecules in the innersphere of Eu center upon bindings of the organic ligands. The numbers of remaining bound water molecules estimated from the increased luminescence lifetimes were in good agreement with crystal structures. The excitation-emission matrix spectra of these crystalline polymers suggest that oxalate ligands promote the sensitized luminescence of Eu(III), especially in the UV region. In the case of malonate and succinate ligands, charge transfer occurs in the opposite direction from Eu(III) to the ligands under UV excitation, resulting in weaker luminescence.

We report on the one-step synthesis of luminescent carbon nanodots (C-dots) via an electrical discharge between two graphite electrodes submerged into organic solvent (octane). This is a simple approach for the fabrication of C-dots with tunable photoluminescence (PL) that differs from the other preparation methods, as no post-passivation step is required. The synthesized carbon nanoparticles are of spherical shape and their size is distributed in the range of 2–5 nm and exhibit luminescence sensitive to excitation wavelength.

Zinc selenide (ZnSe) nanoparticles were synthesized in aqueous solution using glutathione (GSH) as a ligand. The influence of the ligand content, reaction temperature, and hydroxyl ion concentration (pH) on the fabrication of the ZnSe particles was investigated. The optical properties of the synthesized ZnSe particles were characterized using various analytical techniques. The nanoparticles absorbed UV-vis light in the range of 350-400 nm, which is shorter than the absorption wavelength of bulk ZnSe particles (460 nm). The lowest ligand concentration for achieving good light absorption and emission properties was 0.6 mmol. The reaction temperature had an impact on the emission properties; photoluminescence spectroscopic analysis showed that the photo-discharge characteristics were greatly enhanced at high temperatures. These discharge characteristics were also affected by the hydroxyl ion concentration in solution; at pH 13, sound emission characteristics were observed, even at a low temperature of 25oC. The manufactured nanoparticles showed excellent light absorption and emission properties, suggesting the possibility of fabricating ZnSe QDs in aqueous solutions at low temperatures.

Lu3Al5-xGaxO12:Ce3+,Cr3+ powders are prepared using a solid-state reaction method. To determine the crystal structure, Rietveld refinement is performed. The results indicate that Ga3+ ions preferentially occupied tetrahedral rather than octahedral sites. The lattice constant linearly increases, obeying Vegard’s law, despite the strong preference of Ga3+ for the tetrahedral sites. Increasing x led to a blue-shift of the Ce3+ emission band in the green region and a change in the emission intensity. Persistent luminescence is observed from the powders prepared with x = 2–3, occurring through a trapping and detrapping process between Ce3+ and Cr3+ ions. The longest persistent luminescence is achieved for x = 2; its lifetime is at least 30 min. The findings are explained using crystal structure refinement, crystal field splitting, optical band gap, and electron trapping mechanism.

Tin oxide (SnO2) nanocrystals are synthesized by a thermal evaporation method using a mixture of SnO2 and Mg powders. The synthesis process is performed in air at atmospheric pressure, which makes the process very simple. Nanocrystals with a belt shape start to form at 900 oC lower than the melting point of SnO2. As the synthesis temperature increases to 1,100 oC, the quantity of nanocrystals increases. The size of the nanocrystals did not change with increasing temperature. When SnO2 powder without Mg powder is used as the source material, no nanocrystals are synthesized even at 1,100 oC, indicating that Mg plays an important role in the formation of the SnO2 nanocrystals at temperatures as low as 900 oC. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the SnO2 nanocrystals have a rutile crystal structure. The belt-shaped SnO2 nanocrystals have a width of 300~800 nm, a thickness of 50 nm, and a length of several tens of micrometers. A strong blue emission peak centered at 410 nm is observed in the cathodoluminescence spectra of the belt-shaped SnO2 nanocrystals.

용존 6가 우라늄은 다양한 화학종으로 존재하며, 화학종의 분포는 수용액의 pH에 의존한다. 산성 및 중성 근처의 pH 환경 에서는 대표적으로 UO2 2+, UO2OH+, (UO2)2(OH)2 2+, (UO2)3(OH)5 + 화학종이 공존한다. 수용액 속에 비결정성 실리카가 콜로이드 성질의 부유입자 상태로 존재할 때 용존 화학종은 실리카 표면에 쉽게 흡착된다. 이 연구에서는 표면 흡착 화학종의 분 포가 용존 화학종의 분포를 따르는지 조사하였다. 시료의 pH 값이 3.5-7.5인 조건에서 3종의 용존 화학종(UO2 2+, UO2OH+, (UO2)3(OH)5 +)과 2종의 표면 흡착 화학종(≡SiO2UO2, ≡SiO2(UO2)OH‐ 또는 ≡SiO2(UO2)3(OH)5 ‐)의 시간 분해 발광(luminescence) 스펙트럼을 측정하였다. pH 변화에 따른 각 화학종의 스펙트럼 변화 양상을 비교한 결과로 표면 흡착 U(VI) 화학종의 분포는 용존 U(VI) 화학종의 분포와 다르다는 것을 확인하였다.

웨어러블 광섬유 직물의 주요 요건은 의류에 적용하기 위해 높은 유연성을 전제로 해야 한다는 점과 인체의 평평한 부위뿐만 아니라 굴곡이 있는 구간에서도 발광 효과, 즉 휘도를 유지해야 한다는 점이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 위 조건을 충족하는 웨어러블 광섬유 직물의 세부 구조를 직조(weaving) 타입과 자수(computer embroidery) 타입의 2가지 로 제작하였고, 이를 토대로 다음의 두 가지 조건에서 실험을 실시하였다. 첫째, 굴곡이 없는 평평한 상태에서의 웨어러블 광섬유 직물을 1㎝간격으로 총 10개의 측정점을 좌표화하여 그 휘도를 측정하였다. 둘째, 인체 부위 중 입체적 굴곡이 발생하는 팔뚝 부위에 가로 방향으로 웨어러블 광섬유 직물을 배치하고 1㎝ 간격으로 총 10개의 측정점을 좌표화하여 그 휘도값을 측정하였다. 그 결과 직조(weaving) 타입의 경우, 평평한 상태에서의 휘도값은 최대 5.23cd/㎡, 최소 2.74cd/㎡, 평균 3.56cd/㎡, 표준편차 1.11cd/㎡로 나타났고, 팔뚝 부위에서의 휘도값은 최대 7.92cd/㎡, 최소 2.37cd/㎡, 평균 4.42cd/㎡, 표준편차 2.16cd/㎡로 나타났다. 또한 자수(computer embroidery) 타입의 경우, 평평한 상태에서의 휘도값은 최대 7.56cd/㎡, 최소 3.84cd/㎡, 평균 5.13cd/㎡, 표준편차 1.04cd/㎡로 나타났고, 팔뚝 부위에서의 휘도값은 최대 9.62cd/㎡, 최소 3.63cd/㎡, 평균 6.13cd/㎡ 표준편차 2.26cd/㎡ 나타났다. 즉, 자수(computer embroidery) 타입의 경우가 직조(weaving) 타입의 경우에 비해 더 높은 발광 효과를 보였는데 이는 자수(computer embroidery) 타입의 세부 구조가 배면 소재로 인해 빛의 손실을 줄일 수 있었기 때문으로 사료된다. 또한 두 타입 모두에서 팔뚝 부위의 휘도가 평평한 상태에 비해 각각 124%, 119%로 나타나, 인체의 굴곡에도 본 웨어러블 광섬유 직물의 발광 효과가 우수하게 나타남을 알 수 있었다. 이는 빛의 파동설을 정의한 호이겐스의 원리(Huygens’ principle), 빛 파면의 진행 방향과 이루는 각도(θ)의 크기에 커지면 이와 비례하여 빛의 세기도 커진다는 호이겐스-프레넬-키르히호프 원리 (Huygens-Fresnel-Kirchhoff principle)와 일치하는 결과이다.

ZnO micro/nanocrystals are formed by a vapor transport method. Mixtures of ZnO and TiO powders are used as the source materials. The TiO powder acts as a reducing agent to reduce the ZnO to Zn and plays an important role in the formation of ZnO micro/nanocrystals. The vapor transport process is carried out in air at atmospheric pressure. When the weight ratios of TiO to ZnO in the source material are lower than 1:2, no ZnO micro/nanocrystals are formed. However, when the ratios of TiO to ZnO in the source material are greater than 1:1, the ZnO crystals with one-dimensional wire morphology are formed. In the room temperature cathodoluminescence spectra of all the products, a strong ultraviolet emission centered at 380 nm is observed. As the ratio of TiO to ZnO in the source material increases from 1:2 to 1:1, the intensity ratio of ultraviolet to visible emission increases, suggesting that the crystallinity of the ZnO crystals is improved. Only the ultraviolet emission is observed for the ZnO crystals prepared using the source material with a TiO/ZnO ratio of 2:1.

ZnO crystals with different morphologies are synthesized through thermal evaporation of the mixture of Zn and Cu powder in air at atmospheric pressure. ZnO crystals with wire shape are synthesized when the process is performed at 1,000 oC, while tetrapod-shaped ZnO crystals begin to form at 1,100 oC. The wire-shaped ZnO crystals form even at 1,000 oC, indicating that Cu acts as a reducing agent. As the temperature increases to 1,200 oC, a large quantity of tetrapod-shaped ZnO crystals form and their size also increases. In addition to the tetrapods, rod-shaped ZnO crystals are observed. The atomic ratio of Zn and O in the ZnO crystals is approximately 1:1 with an increasing process temperature from 1,000 oC to 1,200 oC. For the ZnO crystals synthesized at 1,000 oC, no luminescence spectrum is observed. A weak visible luminescence is detected for the ZnO crystals prepared at 1,100 oC. Ultraviolet and visible luminescence peaks with strong intensities are observed in the luminescence spectrum of the ZnO crystals formed at 1,200 oC.

ZnO micro/nanocrystals with different morphologies were synthesized by thermal evaporation of various zinc source materials in an air atmosphere. Zinc acetate, zinc carbonate and zinc iodide were used as the source materials. No catalysts or substrates were used in the synthesis of the ZnO crystals. The scanning electron microscope(SEM) image showed that the morphology of ZnO crystals was strongly dependent on the source materials, which suggests that source material is one of the key factors in controlling the morphology of the obtained ZnO crystals. Tetrapods, nanogranular shaped crystals, spherical particles and crayon-shaped crystals were obtained using different source materials. The X-ray diffraction(XRD) pattern revealed that the all the ZnO crystals had hexagonal wurtzite crystalline structures. An ultraviolet emission was observed in the cathodoluminescence spectrum of the ZnO crystals prepared via thermal evaporation of Zn powder. However, a strong green emission centered at around 500 nm was observed in the cathodoluminescence spectra of the ZnO crystals prepared using zinc salts as the source materials.

In this study, we investigate the optical properties of InP/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) by controlling the synthesis temperature of InP. The size of InP determined by the empirical formula tends to increase with temperature: the size of InP synthesized at 140oC and 220oC is 2.46 nm and 4.52 nm, respectively. However, the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of InP is not observed because of the formation of defects on the InP surface. The growth of InP is observed during the deposition of the shell (ZnS) on the synthesized InP, which is ended up with green-red PL spectrum. We can adjust the PL spectrum and absorption spectrum of InP/ZnS by simply adjusting the core temperature. Thus, we conclude that there exists an optimum shell thickness for the QDs according to the size.

YNbO4:Yb3+/Er3+ is synthesized using a solid-state reaction process with a LiCl flux. The effects of the Er/(Yb+Er) ratios (REr) on the up-conversion (UC) and down-conversion (DC) spectra are investigated. The XRD data confirm that the Yb3+ and Er3+ ions are fully substituted for the Y3+ sites. The UC emission spectra activated by 980 nm consists of green and red emission bands, which originate from the Er3+ ions through an energy transfer (ET) process from Yb3+ to Er3+. The UC emission intensity depends on the REr value, and the findings demonstrate that REr ≤ 0.14 is suitable for an effective UC process. The DC emission spectra under 269 nm radiation of the synthesized powders exhibits not only a strong blue emission assigned to the [NbO4]3− niobates, but also green peaks that originate from the Er3+ ions through an ET process between [NbO4]3− and Er3+.

A spherical Sr4Al14O25:Eu2+ phosphor for use in white-light-emitting diodes was synthesized using a liquid-state reaction with two precipitation stages. For the formation of phosphor from a precursor, the calcination temperature was 1,100˚C. The particle morphology of the phosphor was changed by controlling the processing conditions. The synthesized phosphor particles were spherical with a narrow size-distribution and had mono-dispersity. Upon excitation at 395 nm, the phosphor exhibited an emission band centered at 497 nm, corresponding to the 4f65d→4f7 electronic transitions of Eu2+. The critical quenching-concentration of Eu2+ in the synthesized Sr4Al14O25:Eu2+ phosphor was 5 mol%. A phosphor-converted LED was fabricated by the combination of the optimized spherical phosphor and a near-UV 390 nm LED chip. When this pc-LED was operated under various forward-bias currents at room temperature, the pc-LED exhibited a bright blue-green emission band, and high color-stability against changes in input power. Accordingly, the prepared spherical phosphor appears to be an excellent candidate for white LED applications.