Preparation, characterization, and luminescence properties of novel hybrid material containing europium(III) complex covalently bonded to MCM-41

In this paper, a novel luminescent organic-inorganic hybrid material containing covalently bonded ternary europium complex in mesoporous silica MCM-41 has been successfully prepared by co-condensation of tetrethoxysilane (TEOS) and the modified ligand 2-phenyl-1H-imidazo4,5-f]1,10]phen-3-(triethoxysilyl)propylcarbamate (PIP-Si) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant as template. PIP-Si containing 1,10-phenanthroline covalently grafted to 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl isocyanate is used not only as a precursor but also as the second ligand for Eu(TTA)₃·2H₂O (TTA: 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetate) complex to prepare a novel functionalized mesoporous material. The resulted mesoporous composite materials, which demonstrate strong characteristic emission lines of Eu³⁺⁵D₀-⁷F_J (J=0, 1, 2, 3, 4), were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), small-angle X-ray diffraction, excited-state decay analysis. Emission intensity of the Eu(III) complex covalently linked to MCM-41 (Eu-MCM-41) increases with the increasing irradiation time, demonstrating better photostability compared with both pure Eu(III) complex and physically incorporated sample.