Abstract

A low-temperature molten salt method has been used to synthesis Zn2SiO4:Mn (ZSM) powders in NaCl–ZnCl2 eutectic salts by using calcined SBA-15 as silica source without any post-treatment. Characterizations of the samples were carried out by X-ray diffraction, high resolution selection electron microscopy, Raman Spectroscopy and Photoluminescence. Our study revealed that the well crystalline ZSM was obtained at 450 °C, much lower than the conventional solid-state reaction temperature but also get better crystallinity when the temperature increased to 500 °C. The SEM micrographs of ZSM are comprised of irregular rod-like structure with different length–diameter ratio, which showed the average length is about 1 μm and the average diameter is around 100 nm. Besides, the UV excitation spectra showed that the ZSM phosphor exhibited a strong green emission around 527 nm and reached the highest luminescence intensity with the Mn doping concentration of 0.2. In addition, the luminescence decay time of Zn1.8Mn0.2SiO4 (x=0.2) around 527 nm lasted for 14.25 ms upon 245 nm excitation.