The self‐reduction synthesis and luminescent properties of Eu 2+ /Eu 3+ activated BaZr x Si 3 O 7+2 x phosphors with white light emission for white light‐emitting diodes

The BaZr x Si 3 O 7+2 x :Eu 2+ /Eu 3+ (2%, molar ratio) phosphors were prepared with adding different amounts of zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ) ( x  = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1) by a self‐reduction method under air conditions. X‐ray diffraction, photoluminescence properties, thermal quenching properties and luminescent lifetimes of the prepared samples were systematically analyzed. In BaZr x Si 3 O 7+2 x :Eu 2+ /Eu 3+ , both the 4f → 5d transitions of Eu 2+ and sharp emissions assigned to 5 D 0 → 7 F J ( J  = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) transitions of Eu 3+ were observed. In addition, the results also reveal that the amount of ZrO 2 affects the crystal structure, the self‐reduction process and further influences the relative intensity of Eu 2+ /Eu 3+ in all samples. Therefore, the diverse emission colors can be obtained and modulated by controlling the content of ZrO 2 . The highlight of this work is that the white light emission is observed, when x is 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1, respectively.