Significantly improved photoluminescence of the green‐emitting β‐sialon:Eu 2+ phosphor via surface coating of TiO 2

The β‐sialon:Eu 2+ phosphor particles were successfully coated by TiO 2 nanoparticles via the sol‐gel method. The TiO 2 ‐coated β‐sialon:Eu 2+ phosphor had a significantly improved photoluminescence ( PL ) performance under the 365 nm excitation, due to the localized surface plasmon resonance ( LSPR ) at the interface between the TiO 2 coating layer and phosphor surface. The emission intensity of the TiO 2 ‐coated β‐sialon:Eu 2+ prepared with the titanium ( IV ) tetrabutoxide (Ti(OC 4 H 9 ) 4 , TTBO ):H 2 O = 1:0.5 volume ratio was dramatically increased by ~24%. When the preparation temperature was 500°C, it was responsible for superior PL intensity by considering the important domination factors of higher anatase content and spherical particle shape of the TiO 2 coating layer to the LSPR effect. The coating around the phosphor surface by the TiO 2 nanoparticles would be an effective technique to improve the PL efficiency of phosphor for the application in the white light‐emitting diodes ( LED s), by utilizing the LSPR effect of the semiconductor coating layer, instead of conventional metal plasmonic materials.