A new rare-earth oxyborate Ba 3 BiPbEuO(BO 3 ) 4 and the luminescence properties of the Ba 3 BiPbY 1- x Eu x O(BO 3 ) 4 phosphors.

A new rare-earth oxyborate Ba 3 BiPbEuO(BO 3 ) 4 was prepared, and its crystal structure was established by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction method with the following structural data: P 6 3 / mmc , a = 5.4305(1) Å, c = 26.3501(3) Å, V = 672.96(3) Å 3 and Z = 2. This is a layered material containing two types of layers: one is formed by corner-sharing EuO 6 octahedra and BO 3 triangles and the other is composed of corner- or edge-sharing (Bi/Pb)O 7 hexagonal pyramids and BO 3 triangles. These layers and their equivalent partners are alternately stacked along the c -axis, with Ba 2+ cations situated in between and within the layers. Furthermore, the phase composition, morphology, and IR, Raman, XPS, and UV-vis absorption spectra of this compound were studied. In addition, solid solutions of Ba 3 BiPbY 1- x Eu x O(BO 3 ) 4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) were prepared via the solid-state reaction method and their photoluminescence properties were investigated. Ba 3 BiPbYO(BO 3 ) 4 and Ba 3 BiPbEuO(BO 3 ) 4 showed blue and reddish-orange luminescence when excited at 242 and 394 nm, respectively. By doping Eu 3+ into the Ba 3 BiPbYO(BO 3 ) 4 matrix and changing the Eu 3+ doping concentration, luminescence color tunability from blue to orange-red was realized in Ba 3 BiPbY 1- x Eu x O(BO 3 ) 4 phosphors under excitation at 331 nm. This kind of material with color variability may have potential application in field-emission displays.