Assistant Professor Jian Xu in the field of Environmental Photo-ceramic Material Chemistry has won the CerSJ Awards for advancements in ceramic science and technology.
■Awarding Organization:The Ceramic Society of Japan
■Date of Award Ceremony:June 5, 2025
■Research details and Comments from the Awardee:
Conventional phosphors (inorganic luminescent materials activated by rare-earth or transition-metal ions) typically lose their fluorescence once stopping excitation sources (e.g., ultraviolet light). The fluorescence lifetime, in general, is limited to the millisecond order. In contrast, long persistent phosphors can continuously emit light, ranging from seconds to hours after removing excitation sources. These materials with light storage capability, are often considered as “optical batteries”.
By utilizing the vacuum referred binding energy (VRBE) diagram of 4f ground and excited states of lanthanide ions in the host materials, a series of visible to near-infrared (NIR) persistent phosphors have been successfully developed, based on the prediction from this theoretical model. These materials exhibit strong afterglow brightness and long duration, which leads to this Advancement Award of CerSJ.
In the future, we would like to develop novel ceramic materials combining the knowledge of light functionality and new generation photonics toward eco-friendly technologies, and fulfill the current pursuit of a sustainable society.