Structural and upconversion luminescence properties of polyethyl methacrylate (PEMA) polymers doped with rare earths ions

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze the spectral characteristics of nanocrystal powders containing [CdNb2O6:Er3+] and [CdNb2O6: Er3+/Yb3+] by using polyethyl methacrylate (PEMA) crosslinked networks as the host matrix. The first study involved the incorporation of CdNb2O6:Er2O3(%1,5 Er3+) powders doped with Er3+ into both bulk linear polyethyl methacrylate (PEMA) and bulk PEMA crosslinked networks (gels) with varying amounts of crosslinker. The polymerization process was achieved through free-radical crosslinking copolymerization using 0.1 EMA (weight %) at a temperature of 60 °C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) method was used to analyze the structures of Er3+ ions contained in bulk linear PEMA and PEMA gels. The crystalline grain size was determined using the Pielazsek grain distribution and the Scherrer equation techniques. By increasing the crosslinker amounts, the average-crystalline grain sizes reduced from 75 nm to 12.50 nm for CdNb2O6:Er2O3 (%1,5 Er3+) crystalines. Thus, it was shown that the distribution grew more evenly distributed. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra were used to monitor the functional groups present in both linear PEMA and PEMA gel samples. The obtained results were found to be in agreement with the XRD results for the two cases. The second part of this thesis included the synthesis of linear polyethyl methacrylate (PEMA) and crosslinked PEMA gels, which were doped with CdNb2O6: Er3+/Yb3+ nanocrystal powders. The synthesis was achieved using the process of free radical crosslinking copolymerization. The X-ray diffraction method was used to analyze the architectures of Er3+/Yb3+ ions contained in PEMA polymers. The average sizes of the crystalline particles were determined by using the Pielazsek particle distribution and the Scherrer equation. The particle sizes exhibited a reduction from 60 nm to 17 nm for CdNb2O6: Er3+/Yb3+ powders upon their incorporation into PEMA polymers. The morphological changes of polymer samples doped with CdNb2O6: Er3+/Yb3+ powders were observed using transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Luminescence spectra were measured at room temperature to explore the optical characteristics of polymer materials. The Er3+/Yb3+ ions, which was excited with a 975 nm diode laser, produced upconversion (UC) emissions using two-photon absorptions in the visible range. The intensities of UC (upconversion) and the quantities of absorbed photons were enhanced by increasing the quantity of crosslinker. The study examined how changes in the structure and morphology of the host polymer material affected color tuning, color coordinates, and color quality.