Hydrothermal synthesis and investigation of optical properties of Nb5+-doped lithium silicate nanostructures

Abstract

The hydrothermal synthesis and optical properties of Nb5+-doped lithium metasilicate and lithium disilicate nanomaterials were investigated. The microstructures and morphologies of the synthesized Li2−2x Nb2x SiO3+ δ and Li2−2x Nb2x Si2O5+ δ nanomaterials were studied with powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy techniques, respectively. The synthesized niobium-doped lithium metasilicate and lithium disilicate nanomaterials, respectively, are isostructural with the standard bulk Li2SiO3 (space group Cmc21) and Li2Si2O5 (space group Ccc2) materials. Photoluminescence spectra of the synthesized materials are studied. The measured optical properties show dependence on the dopant amounts in the structure.