Studies of luminescent materials including novel preparation of phosphors

New, clean, methods of zinc sulphide synthesis were established in order to produce small regular particles with comparable luminescence to that of commercial standards in current use. These new methods are optimised for activator and co-activator concentrations, firing conditions and other factors affecting the phosphor synthesis process. Microgels have also been used for the first time in the zinc sulphide preparation process. The resultant small, regular spherical sized particles have similar luminescent properties to those of the commercial standards available. The potential of tin oxide as a host lattice for the synthesis of phosphors has been studied. It is concluded that tin oxide cannot compete against established host lattices. A tin oxide:europium phosphor was prepared which shows luminescence in the red region of the spectrum but the intensity of this emission is very weak when compared against a commercial red standard phosphor. However the novel preparation techniques utilising microwave technology could prove useful for the synthesis of nano sized tin oxide materials. For any group of chemical materials it is important to examine potential novel uses. The aforementioned has been undertaken by incorporating a phosphor material into a ceramic frit. Different phosphors retained their luminescent properties even after being mixed into ceramic frits in much the same way dye is incorporated and fired. Numerous niche products could result from such a process. Luminescence in the animal kingdom has also been examined; this work is reported in the first part of the appendix. Scorpion and horseshoe crab emission spectra have been obtained, and in the case of the scorpion samples it is possible to examine emission spectra at different wavelengths