Photoluminescence and energy transfer investigation from SiO2: Tb, Au inverse opals to rhodamine-B dyes

• The SiO2: Tb inverse opals containing gold nanoparticles were prepared.
• The organic rhodamine-B (RhB) dyes were filled into the voids of SiO2: Tb inverse opals.
• The non-radiative and radiative energy transfer processes from the SiO2: Tb inverse opals to the RhB were observed.
• The influence of Au nanoparticles and photonic band gap on the energy transfer from SiO2: Tb inverse opals to the RhB were investigated.

Energy transfer has attracted extensive attention due to its widespread applications in medical diagnostics, DNA analysis and lighting devices. There are few reports on the energy transfer from rare earth ions to dyes. In the present work, the SiO2:Tb inverse opals with and without Au nanoparticles were prepared, and the organic rhodamine-B (RhB) dyes were filled into the voids of SiO2:Tb inverse opals. Non-radiative and radiative energy transfer processes from the SiO2:Tb inverse opals to the RhB were observed. The influence of Au nanoparticles and photonic band gap on the energy transfer from SiO2:Tb inverse opals to the RhB was investigated. The Au nanoparticles enhanced energy transfer was observed due to the surface plasmon resonance effects of the Au nanoparticles. When the emission peaks from the SiO2:Tb inverse opal is overlapped with the photonic band gap, the emission suppression of the SiO2:Tb inverse opal as well the emission enhancement of the RhB dyes were obtained, which is attributed to improved energy transfer caused by the photonic band gap. The steady state rate equations were used to explain enhancement of energy transfer caused by the photonic band gap.