Preparation and characterization of persistent luminescence of regenerated cellulose fiber

• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-016-5622-y
• Publication Date: 2016-08-29T08:13:10Z
• Authors: Chen Shi; Xuebin Hou; Xiaoqiang Li; Mingqiao Ge
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

Persistent luminescence of regenerated cellulose was successfully prepared via wet-spinning from NaOH/thiourea/urea aqueous solvent system. The morphologies, phase structures, mechanical and luminescent properties of the prepared fibers were characterized by SEM, fluorescence microscope, X-ray diffraction (XRD), tensile tester, photoluminescence spectroscopy and brightness meter, respectively. Moreover, the effect of concentration of luminescence phosphors was investigated. The SEM images indicated that the SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+ particles (10 wt%, average size of 6 μm) were uniformly incorporated in the cellulose fibers, which provide the fibers with smooth surface. The XRD results show that the prepared composite fibers had a typical crystalline structure of cellulose II and SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+. Interestingly, the presence of 8 % phosphors in fibers’ matrix had no negative influence on tenacity. Nevertheless, with the increasing of the concentration of particles from 8 to 12 %,the tenacity and the elongation at break tends to decrease. The luminescent properties indicated that luminous fiber exhibited a yellow–green emission band with a maximum of 520 nm originating from SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+. Decay curves of the composite fiber have a similar tendency with SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+ pure powder, but slightly longer decay tended than the SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+ particles.