Continuous Nanocomposite Coatings on a Phosphor for the Enhancement of the Long-term Stability

[ $Y_{2}O_{2}S:Eu$ ], a red phosphor, coated with silica nanoparticles or nanocomposites composed of silica nanoparticles and polymeric materials such as PMMA and PVP was prepared via sol-gel process. Samples were prepared from four different methods coded P1, P2, P3, and P4. P1 includes a conventional sol-gel process and a dip-coating method while P2 has the same procedure with P1 except that nanocomposites containing both silica nanoparticles and polymer prepared by sol-gel process were used as coating materials. In P3 method, phosphors were dispersed in a solution containing silica precursor, i.e., TEOS and then polymerization was performed to coat onto the phosphors surface while P4 followed the same procedure with P3 except that a solution containing both TEOS and organic monomer were used in preparing coating materials. Among various coating methods examined in this study, uniform coating of phosphor could be achieved by using method P4, i.e., phosphor surface coating in a solution containing hydrophobic monomer and TEOS. Furthermore, $Y_{2}O_{2}S:Eu$ red phosphor coated with nanocomposite composed of PMMA matrix and silica nanoparticles exhibited enhanced PL intensity and long-term stability.