Zirconia-based luminescent organic-inorganic hybrid materials with ternary europium (III) complexes bonded

• The material was achieved via linking Eu(tta)3 to ZrO2 using Carb-Terpy a linker.
• The transparent, luminescent film was made by mixing the hybrid material with PMMA.
• The films possess potential application in solar concentrator aspect.

In this work, a novel red-emitting organic-inorganic hybrid material with europium (III) lanthanide β-diketonate complexes linked to a zirconia was reported, which was realized by adduct formation with zirconia-tethered terpyridine moieties. Luminescence enhancement of the hybrid material has been observed compared with pure Eu(tta)3·2H2O. Transparent and strongly luminescent thin films based on PMMA were also prepared at room temperature, which are highly luminescent under UV-light irradiation and possess a promising prospect in the area of optics.