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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2008  > June  >
In the Laboratory
The Radiative Decay of Green and Red Photoluminescent Phosphors: An Undergraduate Kinetics Experiment for Materials Chemistry
C. Degli Esposti and L. Bizzocchi
Dipartimento di Chimica "G. Ciamician", Università di Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Cover
June 2008
Vol. 85 No. 6
p. 839
Abstract
This article describes a laboratory experiment that allows the students to investigate the radiative properties of the green and red emitting phosphors that are employed in commercial fluorescent lamps. Making use of a spectrofluorometer, students first record the emission spectrum of a fluorescent lamp under normal operating conditions, and then they study the photoluminescent powder that coats the inner surface of commercial fluorescent tubes. The emissions of the green (Tb3+-activated) and red (Eu3+-activated) phosphors are optimized, and the respective decay curves are recorded and analyzed using the kinetic model for first-order, consecutive reactions. Students verify that the radiative decay of the green phosphor can be well reproduced using a mono-exponential function, whereas a bi-exponential function must be employed to fit properly the faster decay of the red phosphor, which exhibits a pronounced maximum ca. 130 μs after the end of the excitation pulse. This experiment has been developed for an upper-level undergraduate audience, and it is suitable for advanced physical-chemistry courses.
Supplement
Student handouts; Instructor notes
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Citation
Degli Esposti, C.; Bizzocchi, L. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85, 839.
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Keywords
Fluorescence Spectroscopy; Hands-On Learning / Manipulatives; Kinetics; Laboratory Instruction; Materials Science; Photochemistry; Physical Chemistry; Solids; Upper-Division Undergraduate
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
5/5/2008
5/7/2008
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