Size-Controllable Synthesis of Submicro Spherical Yttrium Carbonate and In Situ Doping of Europium to Prepare Y2O3: Eu3+ Phosphor

Herein, size-controllable spherical yttrium carbonate powders with D 50 in range from 225 to 743 nm are synthesized from Y(NO 3 ) 3 ·6H 2 O and urea. With the rise of the concentration ratio of urea/Y 3+ , temperature, and extension of aging time, diameter of yttrium carbonate spheres increases. When the urea/Y 3+ is 40: 1 and ages for 4 h at 90 °C, the D 50 of synthesized powder, which has been determined as Y(OH)CO 3 ·1.3H 2 O, has the largest D 50 of 743 nm with (D 90 –D 10 )/2D 50 of 0.22. After decomposition, the D 50 of formed Y 2 O 3 decreases to 632 nm, the (D 90 –D 10 )/2D 50 is 0.24, and the D 50 of Y 2 O 3 is in the range of 126–632 nm. Then, 6 mol. % Eu 3+ is homogeneously doped into Y(OH)CO 3 ·1.3H 2 O and Y 2 O 3 : Eu 3+ spherical powder is obtained after roasting, which exhibits a strong emission peak at 613 nm. The developed synthetic method and the obtained size-controllable spherical Y(OH)CO 3 ·1.3H 2 O, Y 2 O 3 , and Y 2 O 3 : Eu 3+ with a uniform size distribution own various potential applications.