Microwave-hydrothermal synthesis, characterization and upconversion luminescence of rice-like Gd(OH)3 nanorods

Rice-like Gd(OH) 3 nanorods were successfully prepared through a facile and rapid microwave-hydrothermal synthesis method without using any surfactants or templates. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to characterize the samples. Results show that the nanorods have an average length of 400 nm and an average diameter of 50 nm. The effects of reaction parameters such as reaction temperature and time on the preparation were briefly investigated. It is found that the crucial factor for the formation of rice-like Gd(OH) 3 nanorods is reaction time. When the rice-like Gd(OH) 3 nanorods was codoped with Yb 3+ and Er 3+ , strong upconversion emissions could be observed under the excitation of 980-nm-laser, and the calculated CIE color coordinates falls within the yellow region, which may be potential candidate for optical materials.