Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Cientificas

Fabrica Nacional De Moneda Y Timbre-real Casa De La Moneda

Rocío Estefanía Rojas Hernández

José Francisco Fernández Lozano

Vicente García Juez

Esther Enríquez Pérez

Fernando Rubio Marcos

Lara Antón Ibáñez

The present invention relates to a nanostructured phosphorescent pigment comprising an AlOsubstrate; MAlO:X nanocrystals, where M is a cation selected from Ca, Sr, Ba, Mg, Znand combinations thereof and where X is a cation selected from Eu, Dy, Nd, Er, La, Lu, Ce, Y, Gd, Tb, Tm, Yband combinations thereof, disposed on the AlOsubstrate; and nanocrystals of molten salt disposed on the MAlO:X nanocrystals. Additionally, the invention relates to a method for preparing the nanostructured phosphorescent pigment of the invention comprising the steps of i) mixing starting materials comprising a cation M precursor, a cation X precursor, AlOand a molten salt; ii) heating the mixture resulting from step (i) in reducing atmosphere. The invention also relates to the use of the nanostructured phosphorescent pigment of the invention for signaling, illumination, decoration or authentication and to a security article comprising the nanostructured phosphorescent pigment of the invention.

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Rocío Estefanía Rojas Hernández