The importance and relevance of creating materials with the ability to absorb photons from the environment or sunlight and subsequently convert them into photons of the bactericidal range of the spectrum (220-280 nm) are due to the need to create self-sterilizing surfaces without the use of ultraviolet lamps. The use of such surfaces can help to permanently reduce the content of adsorbed microbes. The intense luminescence of Pr³⁺ ions in a wide range of wavelengths, including in the UV-C range (200-280 nm), allows them to be used as activator ions in the creation of materials emitting in the ultraviolet region.

The SrO-CaO-MgO-SiO₂ glasses doped with Pr³⁺ ions were synthesized. We investigated the absorption and luminescence spectra of the glass samples in the wide spectral range, their luminescence lifetimes, the Up-converted UVC luminescence using a 444 nm diode laser, and the effect of temperature on the spectral properties of the glasses.

The up-convection luminescent radiation in the UV region nm with the maximum at 275 nm in the doped glasses upon excitation by lower-frequency radiation was obtained. The luminescence of Pr³⁺ ions in the glasses corresponded to the spectral maxima in blue, reddish-orange, and near-infrared spectral regions. The results of the investigation of Pr³⁺ ions' luminescence as a temperature function show that temperature elevation gives rise to a moderate lowering of Pr³⁺ ion luminescence in the visible region and emission band extension, especially at longer wavelengths. The effect of the increasing temperature on the ³Н₄→³Р₂ absorption band is insignificant. Thus, excitation of the up-converted emission of Pr³⁺ ions can be efficient even at a high laser diode power.

Synthesized glasses can be used as materials for photonic applications, including in the creation of light-emitting diodes and the development of UV self-sterilizing surfaces.

The study is described in more detail in [Materials,Vol.17(2024)1771].