Preparation of a water-soluble oligo-(p-phenylene vinylene) embedded silica composite glass through a novel sol–gel process

We describe an improved sol–gel process to prepare a water-soluble oligo-(p-phenylene vinylene) (ws-OPV) doped silica composite glass. The addition of Li2CO3 to neutralize the composite sol and solvent extraction with cyclohexane reduces the processing time from several weeks for traditional sol–gel process to several days. The crack-free ws-OPV doped silica composite glass with the low volume shrinkage can be obtained by this process. The choice of ws-OPV ensures the possibility of this modified process. The results of fluorescence spectra indicate that the adjustable and improved emission of composite glass can be achieved, and the photostability is much better, all of which make such composite glasses of more practical significance.