EuF3 nanotubes fabricated via Eu(NO3)3/cysteamine as precursor and their derived thermosensitive nanogels

• Unique EuF3 nanotubes were fabricated by solution synthesis.
• Predominant mechanisms behind the EuF3 nanotubes development were elucidated.
• Novel EuF3 nanotubes/PNIPAm nanogels were prepared by free radical polymerization.
• The thermosensitive fluorescence behavior of the nanogels was studied by PL at various temperatures.

In this paper, we report a novel solution route to obtain rare earth nanotubes. Firstly, the complex of Eu(NO3)3/cysteamine (Eu-Complex) was used as the precursor, then nanotubes of EuF3 were fabricated from the precursor and NaF. Secondly, the EuF3 nanotubes reacted with acrylic acid (AA) and converted into vinyl decorated nanotubes. Finally, the decorated nanotubes copolymerized with N-isopropylacrylamide via free radical polymerization and thermosensitive EuF3 nanotubes/poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) nanogels were prepared. In order to investigate the mechanism to produce the nanotubes, the morphology structures of samples at different reaction stages were studied via TEM, and the formation mechanism of nanotubes is proposed. The chemical composition was confirmed by FTIR, XRD, XPS and elemental analyzer. The optical property of the as-prepared nanotubes and the nanogels was investigated in detail by photoluminescence (PL). The results suggest that, compared with their bulk counterparts, the nanogels present different thermosensitive fluorescence behavior, for instance, around their low critical solution temperature (LCST), the variation of PL emission intensity of the nanogels is slightly gentler.

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