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A sol−gel solvothermal method was introduced to incorporate Nd 3+ and Sm 3+ ions into TiO 2 nanoparticles. Intense and well-resolved emission lines from Nd 3+ or Sm 3+ ions were realized upon excitation above the TiO 2 bandgap at room temperature. The sensitized emissions of Nd 3+ or Sm 3+ were found to be much more efficient than a direct excitation of lanthanide ions (Ln 3+ ). Multiple site emissions of Nd 3+ and Sm 3+ were detected by means of site-selective spectroscopy at 10 K. Moreover, a possible host-to-Ln 3+ sensitization mechanism was proposed.
Luo et al. (Thu,) studied this question.