Comment on “Zero-thermal-quenching and photoluminescence tuning with assistance of carriers from defect cluster traps” by Chen et al., J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018, 6, 10687–10692

Abstract

Chen et al. (J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018, 6, 10687–10692) reported that the emission of Tb³⁺ in Sr₈ZnSc(PO₄)₇:Tb³⁺ shows zero-thermal-quenching behavior at high temperature (up to 200 °C), which was attributed to the compensation of the emission intensity loss by carriers from different trap depths. In this comment, we argue that this unique behavior is just an intrinsic property of Tb³⁺, and the strategy of sensitization by other ions like Ce³⁺ is needed to make Tb³⁺ activated luminescence materials usable for phosphor converted white LEDs.