Study of the luminescence of tris(2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonato)lanthanide(III) complexes covalently linked to 1,10-phenanthroline-functionalized hybrid sol-gel glasses

The solubility and uniform distribution of lanthanide complexes in sol-gel glasses can be improved by covalently linking the complexes to the sol-gel matrix. In this study, several lanthanide β-diketonate complexes (Ln=Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Er, Yb) were immobilized on a 1,10-phenanthroline functionalized sol-gel glass. For the europium(III) complex, a sol-gel material of diethoxydimethylsilane (DEDMS) with polymer-like properties was derived. For the other lanthanide complexes, the sol-gel glass was prepared by using a matrix of tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) and DEDMS. Both systems were prepared under neutral reaction conditions. High-resolution emission and excitation spectra were recorded. The luminescence lifetimes were measured.