Utilizing nanofabrication to construct strong, luminescent materials

Luminescent materials have been utilized widely in applications from lighting to sensing. The new development of technologies based on luminescence requires the materials to have high luminescence efficiency and mechanical strength. In this paper, we report the fabrication of luminescent materials possessing high mechanical strength by nanofabrication with polyvinyl alcohol used as a stabilizer or coupling agent. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission microscope observations reveal that the nanocomposite sample contains ZnS and ZnO nanoparticles as well as kozoite and sodium nitrate. The mechanical strength and hardness of these nanocomposites are reasonably high, higher than polycarbonate and some carbon nanotube reinforced nanocomposites. Strong luminescence is observed in the new nanocomposites and the luminescence intensity does not degrade following up to 30 min of x-ray irradiation. Our results indicate that nanofabrication may provide a good method to improve the mechanical strength of luminescent materials for some applications in which high-strength luminescent materials are needed.