Barium tungstate doped with terbium ion green nanophosphor: Low temperature preparation, characterization and potential applications

Abstract

Production of Nano-Terbium doped barium tungstate and its potential applications as a phosphor in forensic science and anti-counterfeiting ink applications have not been reported in the literature to now. Herein, simple, sensitive and bi-functional green Nanophosphor based on BaWO4: xTb3+ was prepared and characterized for latent prints and anti-counterfeiting ink applications. High crystalline tetragonal BaWO4 phase was obtained with nano-spherical morphology. BWO: xTb3+ Nanophosphors emits a strong and dual green and bluish green colors which appear to the human eye upon UVC and UVA excitation resources, respectively. The lifetime values were increased with rising Tb3+ ion concentrations from 0.01 to 0.07 mol. BWO: xTb3+ Nanophosphor has successfully visualized latent print from various forensic non-porous and porous surfaces. Moreover, BWO: xTb3+ Nanophosphor was used to develop luminescent ink for anti-counterfeiting application.