Hybrid silica luminescent materials based on lanthanide-containing lyotropic liquid crystal with polarized emission

• We suggest a new simple approach for creating luminescence hybrid silica films.
• Ln-containing hybrid silica films demonstrate yellow, green and red emissions.
• Tb(III)-containing hybrid film have a high lifetime.
• We report effects of linearly polarized emission in hybrid film.

This paper represents the template method for synthesis of hybrid silica films based on Ln-containing lyotropic liquid crystal and characterized by efficient luminescence. Luminescence films were prepared in situ by the sol–gel processes. Lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) mesophases C12H25O(CH2CH2O)10H/Ln(NO3)3·6H2O/H2O containing Ln (III) ions (Dy, Tb, Eu) were used as template. Polarized optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and FT-IR-spectroscopy were used for characterization of liquid crystal mesophases and hybrid films. The morphology of composite films was studied by the atomic force microscopy method (AFM). The optical properties of the resulting materials were evaluated. It was found that hybrid silica films demonstrate significant increase of their lifetime in comparison with an LLC system. New effects of linearly polarized emission revealed for Ln-containing hybrid silica films. Polarization in lanthanide-containing hybrid composites indicates that silica precursor causes orientation of emitting ions.

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