Combustion synthesis of YAG:Ce phosphors via the thermite reaction of aluminum

Cerium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG:Ce) as a yellow phosphor for white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) was synthesized via a facile combustion method using Y2O3, CeO2, Al2O3, Al, and NaClO4 as raw materials. The combustion synthesis approach utilizes the strong exothermic oxidation of aluminum to realize a self-sustaining reaction. In this study, we investigated the effects of the ratios of Al2O3 to Al, fluxes, and coprecipitated materials as raw materials on the luminescence properties of the synthesized YAG:Ce phosphors. When the amount of Al2O3 x is varied, the combustion reaction proceeds at x ≤ 1.8, with x = 1.725 being the optimum condition for producing a high-performance product. When 5 wt% BaF2 is added, the luminescence intensity is significantly improved owing to a decrease of YAP (YAlO3) formation with improved uniformity. However, the addition of CaF2 and NaF does not improve the luminescence properties. To suppress the segregation of CeO2, we used the coprecipitated material Y2O3–CeO2 as a raw material. Unlike with separate addition of Y2O3 and CeO2, Ce ions are uniformly distributed in the coprecipitated material, resulting in improved luminescence properties. The combination of BaF2 and coprecipitated material significantly improves the internal quantum efficiency to 83.0%, which is close to that of commercial phosphors.