Rare-earth-doped electrospun scheelite CaWO4 nanofibers with excitation-dependent photoluminescence and high-linearity cathodoluminescence for ratiometric UV wavelength and radiation sensors

Scheelite structured AWO4 compounds (A = Ba, Ca, Pb and Sr) are efficient hosts for rare-earth dopants. In this work, high-aspect-ratio AWO4 (A = Ba, Ca, Pb and Sr) nanofibers, doped with 5 mol.% Tb and 5 mol.% Eu on A site, were synthesized using a sol-gel electrospinning technique, and their performances as a ratiometric sensor for the detection of UV light wavelength were comparatively studied. High-resolution electron microscopy reveals the presence of nanosized grains composing the nanofibers. The AWO4:5Tb-5Eu nanofibers exhibit strong characteristic photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) emission from both Tb3+ and Eu3+ ions. In the case of CaWO4 lattice, the emission intensity ratio of Tb3+/Eu3+ is found to show a linear relationship with the excitation wavelength in the tested range of 240–330 nm, with efficient energy transfer from host lattice to rare-earth ions. However, a similar result is not observed in other scheelite structured BaWO4, PbWO4, and SrWO4 nanofibers. The unique PL emission characteristics of CaWO4:5Tb-5Eu under different UV excitation wavelengths are due to its unique excitation band. This study reveals a potential new application of CaWO4:5Tb-5Eu as a fluorescent probe for UV wavelength detection. Additionally, the CL intensities from CaWO4:5Tb-5Eu nanofibers exhibit highly linear dependences on the applied voltage and current without saturation, which can be utilized for radiation detection.