Thermal and optical properties of Tb(III), Eu(III) and Tb(III)/Eu(III) co-complexed silicone fluorinated acrylate copolymer

• The materials were synthesized by the method of emulsion polymerization.
• Efficient energy transfer from Tb(III) to Eu(III).
• The thermal stability of the materials is excellent.

Tb(III), Eu(III) and Tb(III)/Eu(III) activated silicone fluorinated acrylate (SFA) have been successfully synthesized using the method of semi-continuous emulsion polymerization. The copolymers are characterized by flourier transform infrared (FT-IR), thermal gravity analysis (TGA), photoluminescence excitation (PLE) and emission (PL) spectroscopy. The copolymer containing Tb(III) and Eu(III) ions display green and red luminescent colors under UV light excitation, respectively. The TGA curves show the thermal decomposition temperatures of the copolymers are up to about 300 °C. The PL spectra show a strong green emission at 546 nm (5D4 → 7F5) of Tb(III) complexed copolymers, and show a prominent red emission at 615 nm (5D0 → 7F2) of Eu(III) complexed copolymers. Different concentrations of Eu(III) and Tb(III) ions are introduced into the copolymer and the energy transfer from Tb(III) to Eu(III) ions in the copolymer was found. Thus, based on the results it can be suggested that SFA:Eu(III), SFA:Tb(III) and SFA:Tb(III)/Eu(III) can be used potentially as luminescent materials.