Controlled construction of Monodisperse La₂(MoO ₄)₃:Yb, Tm microarchitectures with upconversion luminescent property

Monodisperse La₂(MoO₄)₃:Yb, Tm microarchitectures with uniform waxberry-like morphology have been successfully constructed in large scale by a facile surfactant-assisted hydrothermal route, in which sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) was used as the structure directing agent. It was found that the pH value was a crucial factor controlling the phase composition and purity, which was unaffected by surfactant SLS. The growth process of these waxberry-shaped microarchitectures has been examined in detail, and it was proved that a special dissolution-recrystallization transformation mechanism as well as a preferential adsorption of SLS process was responsible for the morphology evolution of the La₂(MoO₄) ₃:Yb, Tm microarchitectures. A mechanism for the formation of the waxberry-shape La₂(MoO₄)3:Yb, Tm microarchitectures was put forward. The specially shaped architectures showed blue up-conversion emission properties.