Magnesium aluminate (MgAl2O4) has received special attention as a technologically important material
because of its attractive properties, such as mechanical strength, chemical inertness, a wideband gap,
relatively low density, high melting point, high thermal shock resistance, low thermal expansion
coefficient, resistance to neutron irradiation and low dielectric loss. It has also been used as a phosphor
host activated by a variety of transition metal and lanthanide ions. A simple combustion method was
employed for the preparation of Ce doped MgAl2O4 nanocrystals using metal nitrates as precursors and
urea as a fuel in a preheated furnace at 520 1C. The as-prepared samples were annealed in a hydrogen
atmosphere to improve their optical properties. The samples thus obtained were characterized by X-ray
diffraction (XRD), UV–vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron
microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The XRD data showed that all the samples had
the spinel structure and the average particle size of the as-prepared samples was about 25 nm. PL spectra
of Ce doped MgAl2O4 using an excitation wavelength of 350 nm produced broad green emission bands
centred at 500 nm. Maximum green emission was obtained for the sample doped with 0.75 mol% Ce.
UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra and XPS were used to obtain more information on the conversion of Ce
ions from the non-luminescent Ce4þ to the luminescent Ce3þ charge state.