Synthesis and characteristics of a novel rare earth complex of Eu(TTA)2(N-HPA)Phen

Rare-earth four-fold compounds of Eu3+ with HTTA, N-HPA and 1,10-phenanthroline have been synthesized. The characteristic of the compounds have been studied by UV, IR, DTA–TG, XRD and fluorescence spectroscopy. The complex of Eu(III) emits strong red fluorescence when excited by UV light. UV absorption spectrum shows the absorption energy of complexes mostly from ligands. IR spectra suggest that complexes have been successfully synthesized. It is proved by TG curve that the complex is stable, ranging from ambient temperature to 210 °C in air. The organic–inorganic combined structural device (ITO/PVK: Eu/ZnS/Al) is fabricated based on layered optimization scheme. Europium (Eu) ions may also be excited by intramolecular energy transfer from ligands. There are two kinds of excitation mechanisms: impacted excitation and injected recombination for the combined structural device. The electroluminescence (EL) intensity of the combined structural device is strongly improved and reaches up to 381 cd/m2 at 20 V compared with the pure organic structural device. It may be an effective method to improve the EL intensity of the lanthanide complex by using electric characteristics of inorganic semiconductor materials.