Hydrophobic Modification of Spherical Y2O3:Eu3+ Powder Using Nonfluorinated Alkyl Silanes

Europium‐doped yttrium oxide (Y2O3:Eu3+) is one of the main red‐emitting luminescent materials currently used in light‐emitting devices owing to its high luminous efficiency, high color purity, and other excellent optical characteristics. However, Y2O3:Eu3+ is hydrophilic, which is a major obstacle to its long‐term application in high‐humidity outdoor environments. Hydrophobic modification is a viable solution to this problem, and can give Y2O3:Eu3+ many excellent properties and functions, such as self‐cleaning ability, anti‐static performance, oil/water separation functions, and corrosion resistance. This study reports the preparation of hydrophobic Y2O3:Eu3+ particles modified with nonfluorinated alkyl silanes. Several influencing factors, including the length of the carbon chain in the silane coupling agent, the pH value of the reaction system, the reaction temperature, and the ratio of reactants, on the hydrophobicity of the prepared samples are studied in detail, and the optimal conditions are determined. A superhydrophobic Y2O3:Eu3+ material with a water contact angle of 151.6° is finally obtained. Moreover, FTIR, TG, SEM, XPS, XRD, and PL are used to explore the mechanism of the hydrophobic modification and the structural and fluorescence performance changes imparted by this modification.