Design of a Novel Sort of Luminescent Terbium(III) Hybrid Materials with Potential Molecular Bridge

A kind of precursor molecule (abbreviated as EPDA–APMS) was synthesized by means of the amidation reaction of 5-ethylpyridine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (EPDA) with a crosslinking molecule (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APMS). Then the hybrid materials were obtained by reaction of this kind of monomer (EPDA–APMS), tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and Tb(NO₃)₃·6H₂O by an in-situ sol-gel process, resulting in a novel molecular hybrid material (named as Tb–EPDA–APMS) with double chemical bonds (Tb–O coordination bond and Si–O covalent bond). Ultraviolet absorption, phosphorescence, and fluorescence spectra were applied to characterize the photophysical properties of the obtained hybrid material. The strong luminescence of Tb³⁺ substantiates optimum energy match and effective intramolecular energy transfer between the triplet state energy of modified ligand bridge and emissive energy level of Tb³⁺.