Plasmonic and Colorimetric Characteristics of Terbium ions in Sol-Gel derived Titanosilicate Glass

Abstract

Terbium is one of the rare earth elements exhibiting emission in the visible range, which accounts for several optical applications. The effect of plasmonic nanoparticles of silver on the fluorescence enhancement of terbium ions doped titanosilicate matrix is investigated in the present work. The non-hydrolytic sol-gel method is used to synthesize Ag nanoparticles doped Tb³⁺: SiO₂ – TiO_2. XRD does the structural characterisation, and TEM analysis confirms the presence of nanocrystals. FTIR spectroscopy is done to verify the matrix formation. Photoluminescence characteristic studies are performed to analyse the effect of silver nanoparticles in the fluorescence enhancement of the terbium ions, which is discussed as the consequence of the energy transfer phenomenon and localised surface plasmon resonance. Colorimetric characterisation confirms the colour-tunable capability of silver nanoparticles