Self‐organization and luminescent properties of nanostructured europium (III)–block copolymer complex thin films

We introduce a simple method to create nanosized, ordered, and highly luminescent thin film of Eu (III)–block copolymer complex. Micelles of polystyrene–block‐poly(4‐vinylpyridine) (PS‐b‐P4VP) in P4VP‐selective solvents (ethanol/N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) mixture) serve as nanoreactors for the synthesis of Eu(III)–block copolymer complex with the presence of 1,10‐phenanthroline (Phen) as cooperative ligand. The resulted quaternary complexes were characterized by FT‐IR spectra, ¹⁵N NMR spectra, and elemental analysis, indicative of a composition of Eu(III)–(PS‐b‐P4VP)–Phen–5DMF. Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy investigations reveal that the Eu(III)–(PS‐b‐P4VP)–Phen–5DMF complex can self‐organize into hexagonally ordered thin films when dip‐coated from the solution onto silicon or silica glass substrates. Such ordered thin films can emit red fluorescence of Eu³⁺ with strong intensity and long lifetime. This method can be easily extended to prepare other ordered luminescent rare earth–polymer complexes thin films. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 2181–2189, 2005