Co-Hydrolysis of GeCl4 and Pr(NO3)3⋅5H2O in an Aprotic Solvent—A Way to Create Aerogels with Target Luminescent Characteristics

In this paper, a straightforward method for creating crystalline GeO2 : Pr3+ aerogels has been proposed. By adapting an existing epoxide-induced synthesis process, we have successfully performed co-gelation of GeCl4 and Pr(NO3)3·5H2O. It has been shown that the concentration of the dopant ion in the aerogel increases in direct proportion to its initial fraction in the mixture, with a uniform distribution throughout the material. The dependence of the photoluminescence of GeO2 : Pr3+ aerogels on the excitation wavelength has been established. At high excitation energies, the luminescence is completely determined by the germanium oxide matrix, while when excited by green light, the characteristic orange-red emission bands of Pr3+ ions become the dominant.