Luminescence decay kinetics as a tool for quality control of polymer materials used in railway transport

Protective coatings and composite materials based on polymer materials are widely used. They are used in construction, railway, water and air transport to protect various structures from the harmful effects of the environment. In order to create new materials with greater strength and durability, the research related to the development of methods for controlling their quality and the formation processisneeded.The luminescence of chromophores (molecules capable of luminescence) attached to polymer molecules (polymer chains) is an effective tool for this control. The paper discusses the effect of the polymer chain size and the nature of the interaction of its units on the chromophores’ luminescence decay kinetics.

Single photon sources based on HPHT nanodiamonds

Color centers in nanodiamonds are promising candidates for the creation of high-speed sources of single photons without blinking and degradation. Color centers in HPHT nanodiamonds have been investigated. The luminescence decay curves of color centers have been measured. Second order correlation functions were measured for nanodiamonds with sizes from 50 nm to 250 nm. Conclusions about the energy structure of color centers were made based on the correlation functions.

Luminescent Properties of a Novel Mn2+ doped 3CaO-CaF2-2SiO2 Glasses

The transition metal Mn2+ ions doped materials have been widely reported for the luminescent properties for its broad emission band from green to red due to the spin-forbidden 4T1→6A1 transitions. To investigate the luminescent properties of Mn2+ ions in cuspidine glass, the 3CaO-CaF2-2SiO2 glasses doped with different Mn2+ concentration were prepared with traditional melt-quenching method. The luminescence emission spectra, excitation spectra and luminescence decay curves were recorded and analyzed. The tunable broadband emission from orange to red was obtained. The luminescence intensity and lifetime of Mn2+: 4T1 level showed different quenching points with the increasing of Mn2+ concentration. All these results indicate that Mn2+ doped 3CaO-CaF2-2SiO2 glass could be applied as light conversion material for solid-state lighting applications.

Solvothermal synthesis and characterization of well-dispersed cerium-doped Y2SiO5 phosphor particles

Well-dispersed cerium-doped Y2SiO5 (Ce:YSO) phosphor particles with spherical morphology and good luminescence intensity have been achieved by a solvothermal method with ethanol and water as solvent media. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, fluorescence spectrophotometry and transmission electron microscopy were employed to characterize the as-synthesized Ce:YSO precursor and powders. The results showed that pure-phase Ce:YSO powders with a mean particle size of about 162 nm were accurately available at 310°C and above. The fluorescence ability and persistent luminescence decay properties of the Ce:YSO powders were also studied, and the excellent fluorescence properties could be attributed to the homogeneous Ce:YSO particles obtained through the solvothermal method.

A novel streak velocimetry technique based on 2D fits of decaying phosphor particle images

A new 2D velocimetry technique based on streaks formed by individual phosphor particles, which are moving during their luminescence decay following pulsed excitation is proposed in this study. Tin-doped phosphor particles (Sr,Mg)3(PO4)2:Sn2+ are dispersed into flows and excited by a pulsed UV light sheet. During the phosphor decay time (~27 µs), the emission streaks due to particle motion are recorded. A 2D fitting is then applied on each particle streak against the analytical expression of intensity distribution, to obtain the velocity information for each particle. Unlike Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) this technique does not rely on any particle image searching procedure.

Cadmium-Inspired Self-Polymerization of {LnIIICd2} Units: Structure, Magnetic and Photoluminescent Properties of Novel Trimethylacetate 1D-Polymers (Ln = Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb)

A series of heterometallic carboxylate 1D polymers of the general formula [LnIIICd2(piv)7(H2O)2]n·nMeCN (LnIII = Sm (1), Eu (2), Tb (3), Dy (4), Ho (5), Er (6), Yb (7); piv = anion of trimethylacetic acid) was synthesized and structurally characterized. The use of CdII instead of ZnII under similar synthetic conditions resulted in the formation of 1D polymers, in contrast to molecular trinuclear complexes with LnIIIZn2 cores. All complexes 1–7 are isostructural. The luminescent emission and excitation spectra for 2–4 have been studied, the luminescence decay kinetics for 2 and 3 was measured. Magnetic properties of the complexes 3–5 and 7 have been studied; 4 and 7 exhibited the properties of field-induced single-molecule magnets in an applied external magnetic field. Magnetic properties of 4 and 7 were modelled using results of SA-CASSCF/SO-RASSI calculations and SINGLE_ANISO procedure. Based on the analysis of the magnetization relaxation and the results of ab initio calculations, it was found that relaxation in 4 predominantly occurred by the sum of the Raman and QTM mechanisms, and by the sum of the direct and Raman mechanisms in the case of 7.

Quenching of the Eu3+ Luminescence by Cu2+ Ions in the Nanosized Hydroxyapatite Designed for Future Bio-Detection

The hydroxyapatite nanopowders of the Eu3+-doped, Cu2+-doped, and Eu3+/Cu2+-co-doped Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 were prepared by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The structural and morphological properties of the products were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy techniques (TEM), and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The average crystal size and the unit cell parameters were calculated by a Rietveld refinement tool. The absorption, emission excitation, emission, and luminescence decay time were recorded and studied in detail. The 5D0 → 7F2 transition is the most intense transition. The Eu3+ ions occupied two independent crystallographic sites in these materials exhibited in emission spectra: one Ca(1) site with C3 symmetry and one Ca(2) sites with Cs symmetry. The Eu3+ emission is strongly quenched by Cu2+ ions, and the luminescence decay time is much shorter in the case of Eu3+/Cu2+ co-doped materials than in Eu3+-doped materials. The luminescence quenching mechanism as well as the schematic energy level diagram showing the Eu3+ emission quenching mechanism using Cu2+ ions are proposed. The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technique revealed the existence of at least two different coordination environments for copper(II) ion.