Spectral-clipping approach induced enhancement of infrared and color purity performance: A novel (Eu,Cr)-ZrSiO4 green pigment

In order to obtain samples with high color purity, we first proposed a novel spectral-clipping approach. In this technique, the incorporation of ions with spectral regulation characteristics, through the energy level transition, the absorption of variegated peaks in the sample reflection spectrum and the selective emission of the desired color or specific band can be achieved. Taking Eu-doped Cr-ZrSiO 4 green ceramic pigment as an example, and its crystal structure, diffuse reflectance spectrum, and color characteristics were systematically investigated. First-principles band calculations were performed on (Eu,Cr)-ZrSiO 4 supercells to elucidate the effect of co-doping on the electronic structure and optical properties. Structural and spectral analyses demonstrate that Eu doping effectively eliminates stray colors, yielding a pure green color ( L* =76.26, a* = -7.9, b* =12.17) and significantly enhancing the near-infrared reflectance, which reaches 90.36% in the 700-2500 nm wavelength range. The spectral-clipping approach shows promising potential for applications in pigments and phosphor materials.