Monochromatic light-emitting copolymer of methyl methacrylate and Eu-complexed 5-acrylamido-1,10-phenanthroline

•A luminescent copolymer of MMA and Eu-complexed 5-acrylamido-1,10-phenanthroline.•Photophysical properties of the copolymer were studied.•The Judd–Ofelt theory was used to analyze the luminescence spectra of the copolymer.•The copolymer may be a promising candidate for a pure red-emitting polymer material.

We present an effective approach to prepare Eu-containing polymer with excellent photoluminescence properties through the copolymerization of highly luminescent Eu-complex monomer featuring 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (HTTA) and 5-acrylamido-1,10-phenanthroline with methyl methacrylate (MMA). The copolymer was characterized by FT-IR, UV–Vis, 1H NMR, GPC, TGA, and DSC. The results reveal that the copolymer is readily soluble, and possesses excellent thermal stability, with high glass transition and decomposition temperatures of 125 and 335 °C, respectively. Intense red emission peaked at 612 nm, corresponding to the 5D0 → 7F2 transition of Eu(III) ions is recorded under UV excitation. The luminescence lifetimes and efficiencies of some Eu-containing monomers could be greatly enhanced upon copolymerization. The special microenvironment, in which the Eu-complex units are uniformly bonded to and surrounded by the polymer chain, appears to be responsible for the improvement of the luminescence properties for the copolymer. Moreover, the applicability of the well-known Judd–Ofelt theory to the luminescence properties of Eu3+ complexes is also investigated.

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