Silica encapsulated ZnO quantum dot-phosphor nanocomposites: Sol-gel preparation and white light-emitting device application

ZnO quantum dots (QDs) as an eco-friendly and low-cost material has bright fluorescence, which makes it promising material for healthy lighting and displaying. However, the low fluorescence efficiency and poor stability of ZnO QDs impede their applications in lighting application. In this work, silica encapsulated ZnO QD-phosphors nanocomposites (ZSPN) have been prepared through a sol-gel synthesis process, where yellow-emitting ZnO QDs and blue-emitting BaMgAl₁₀O₁₇:Eu²⁺ are employed as the luminescence cores and silica as link between two luminescence materials. Tunable photoluminescence of ZSPN and the white light emission have been achieved through changing mass ratio of both of ZnO QDs and commercial phosphors. The PLQY of the ZSPN can reach 63.7% and they can maintain high luminous intensity even the ambient temperature up to 110 ℃ and after 35 h of UV irradiation. In addition, they can keep stable for 40 days. By coating the ZSPN phosphors onto a ultraviolet chip, WLEDs with luminous efficiency of 73.6 lm/W and the color coordinate, correlated color temperature, and color rendering index can reach (0.32, 0.34), 5580 K, and 87, respectively, indicating the bright prospect of the ZSPN phosphors used in healthy lighting.