Novel polymer–inorganic hybrid materials fabricated with in situ composition and luminescent properties

A new polymer–inorganic material was synthesized from terephthalic acid (TPA) and rare-earth ion (Tb3+, Eu3+) complex, which rare-earth ions connect with polymer by covalent bands. The luminescent europium and terbium coordination polymers, PET–Tb and PET–Eu, were produced in situ through low temperature solution polycondensation (PET = polyethyl terephthate ester). FTIR spectroscopy, ultraviolet absorption and scanning electron microscopy were applied to characterize the structure of obtained hybrid material. Phosphorescence and fluorescence spectra were applied to characterize the photophysical properties of the obtained hybrid material. The experimental result shows that the strong luminescence of rare-earth ions substantiates optimum energy match and effective intramolecular energy transfer between the triplet state energy of coordination complex and the emissive energy level of the rare-earth ions. The hybrid material systems can be expected to have potential applications in photophysical sensors.