Nanocomposites and nanomaterials

Synthesis and characterization of polycrystalline BaGa2O4 ceramics doped with Eu3+ ions 
A. Luchechko1, Yu. Kostiv2, O. Kravets1, 
A. Ingram3, O. Zaremba1, H. Klym2
1Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, 
Tarnavskogo str., 107, Lviv-79017, Ukraine
2Lviv Polytechnic National University, Bandery str., 12, Lviv-79013, Ukraine 
E-mail: yura.kostiv@gmail.com
3Opole University of Technology, Ozimska str., 75, Opole- 45370, Poland
Polycrystalline BaGa2O4 ceramics are promising materials for different applications in part, as insulator materials in various optoelectronic devices, as a potential candidate for secondary electron emission coatings in plasma display panels [1], for proton ceramic fuel cells [2], etc. Doping of this materials by rare-earth ions results in the transformation of their luminescent and structural properties. The aim of this work is synthesis and study of structural and luminescence properties of un-doped and doped with Eu3+ ions BaGa2O4 ceramics.
The polycrystalline BaGa2O4 samples were prepared by solid-state reaction method. As starting materials BaCO3 and Ga2O3 with purity 99.99% were used. Powders of stoichiometric composition with 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 mol.% of Eu2O3 (99.99%) were mixed in an agate mortar for 6 h with further pressing in a steel mold. Obtained pellets were annealed at 1200 ºC for 12 h in air. After that, the annealing of ceramic samples was carried out at 1300 ºC for 4h. The obtained polycrystalline ceramic samples were 4 mm in diameter and 1 mm in thickness.
To study the transformation of free volume in the inner structure of BaGa2O4 ceramics caused by rare-earth ions, the investigation with using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy will be performed. XRD data for un-doped BaGa2O4 ceramics and doped with Eu3+ ions will be collected using an STOE STADI P diffractometer with Kα1-radiation. The investigation of luminescent properties will be carried out using a CM 2203 spectrofluorometer. 

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2.	Acuna W., et al. Synthesis and characterization of BaGa2O4 and Ba3Co2O6(CO3)0.6 compounds in the search of alternative materials for Proton Ceramic Fuel Cell (PCFC) // Solid State Sciences, 2017, vol. 71, pp. 61-68.