Synthesis of lanthanide-based SBA-15 mesoporous hybrids by a novel route

The ligand N², N⁶-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)pyridine-2,6-dicarboxamide (L or BHPC) was synthesised by modification of 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid then used to construct the lanthanide-based mesoporous material Tb-BHPC-SBA-15. In the structure of the resulting Tb-BHPC-SBA-15, lanthanide ions were chelated by the BHPC ligand and the Tb-BHPC complexes were anchored into the SBA-15 host formed by the reaction between the hydroxyl group and the active Si-OH. The mesoporous material Tb-BHPC-SBA-15 was characterised by UV, small-angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD) patterns, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms and fluorescence spectra. The results indicate that the ligand and lanthanide ions were introduced into the SBA-15 host and the mesoporous material Tb-BHPC-SBA-15 exhibited the characteristic luminescence of Tb³⁺.