Low temperature synthesis of (Ca, Ce)₃Sc₂Si ₃O₁₂ phosphor by hydrothermal gelation method using novel water soluble silicon compound

Low temperature synthesis of a (Ca, Ce)₃Sc₂Si ₃O₁₂ (CSS) phosphor with a garnet structure has been achieved by a hydrothermal gelation (HTG) method using a water soluble silicon compound. The CSS phase was obtained by calcining a hydrothermally driven gelations matter at 1073 K in the HTG method while synthesis of CSS by a solid state reaction required the calcinations at higher temperature than 1673 K. The low temperature synthesis of CSS stands on the homogeneity of the metallic components in a gel obtained from a homogeneous aqueous solution of starting materials by hydrothermal treatment at 473 K. It was revealed from investigation of the hydrothermal conditions that the homogeneity of the gels was independent of the concentration of components and the time of hydrothermal treatment but dependent on temperature because the temperature affected the rate of the gel formation.