MCS PhD student Jędrzej Winczewski prepared 3D polycrystalline microstructures with submicron features, by treating home-made precursor solutions with two-photon stereolithography and subsequently annealing the resulting specimens at high temperature. The zirconia-based materials were doped with different lanthanides (europium, terbium and thulium) by adding the corresponding salts to the precursors. The microstructures were analysed in collaboration with Dr. Manuel Herrera-Zaldivar of the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, associated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and in cathodoluminescence demonstrated light emission in the red, green or blue part of the visible spectrum, depending on the dopant. When all three dopants were incorporated together in the zirconia, the structures exhibited white light emission in cathodoluminescence.
For details see: J. Winczewski, M. Herrera Zaldívar, H.J.G.E. Gardeniers, A. Susarrey Arce, White emission in 3D-printed phosphor microstructures, Chem. Commun. 59 (2023) 3095-3098; DOI: 10.1039/D2CC06953A (Open Access)
The research that has led to this paper received funding from the European Research Council within the framework of the CREAM4 Advanced Grant project.
