Sol-gel produced Zn(2)V(2)O(7) phosphors' improved luminous properties: The role of thermal treatment

Zn(2)V(2)O(7) phosphor was made using a sol-gel technique and then annealed at temperatures ranging from 700 to 850 °C. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed that Zn(2)V(2)O(7) exhibits a single monoclinic phase. The width at half-maximum of the (022) XRD peak shrank overall resulting in improved crystallinity of the Zn(2)V(2)O(7) phosphors with higher annealing temperatures. Because of the good crystallinity of Zn(2)V(2)O(7), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicates that grain size increases as the annealing temperature rises. When the temperature was raised from 35 °C to 500 °C, TGA findings revealed a total weight loss of approximately 65%. The photoluminescence emission spectra of annealed Zn(2)V(2)O(7) powders revealed a wide green-yellowish emission in the range of 400 nm–800 nm. As the annealing temperature was raised, the crystallinity improved, resulting in an increase in PL intensity. The peak of the PL emission shifts from green to yellow emission.