%0 Journal Article
%T Transparent Sol-Gel Oxyfluoride Glass-Ceramics with High Crystalline Fraction and Study of RE Incorporation
%A Aida Serrano
%A Alicia Dur¨¢n
%A David Bravo
%A Germ¨¢n R. Castro
%A Giulio Gorni
%A Glenn C. Mather
%A Jadra Mosa
%A Joaqu¨ªn Fern¨¢ndez
%A Jose J. Vel¨¢zquez
%A Mar¨ªa Vila
%A Rolindes Balda
%A Yolanda Castro
%J Archive of "Nanomaterials".
%D 2019
%R 10.3390/nano9040530
%X Transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramic films and self-supported layers with composition 80SiO2-20LaF3 doped with Er3+ have been successfully synthesized by sol-gel process for the first time. Crack-free films and self-supported layer with a maximum thickness up to 1.4 ¦Ìm were obtained after heat treatment at the low temperature of 550 ¡ãC for 1 min, resulting in a LaF3 crystal fraction of 18 wt%, as confirmed by quantitative Rietveld refinement. This is the highest value reported up to now for transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramics prepared by sol-gel. This work provides a new synthesis strategy and opens the way to a wide range of potential applications of oxyfluoride glass-ceramics. The characterization by a wide range of techniques revealed the homogeneous precipitation of LaF3 nanocrystals into the glass matrix. X-ray absorption spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance confirmed that the Er3+ ions are preferentially embedded in the low phonon-energy LaF3 nanocrystals. Moreover, photoluminescence (PL) measurements confirmed the incorporation of dopants in the LaF3 nanocrystals. The effective concentration of rare-earth ions in the LaF3 nanocrystals is also estimated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy
%K glass-ceramic
%K oxyfluoride
%K rare-earth
%K crystallization
%K sol-gel
%U https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6523291/