Investigation of the photoluminescence properties of composite optical resins containing high lanthanide content

Novel composite optical resins with high lanthanide content have been synthesized through a free radical copolymerization of methacrylic acid (MA), styrene (St) and Eu(DBM)₃·H₂O nanocrystals. We characterized the structure, the thermal properties, dimensions and photoluminescence properties of Eu(DBM)₃·H₂O nanocrystals. Our results indicated that the diameters of the Eu(DBM)₃·H₂O nanocrystals were within the range of 30 to 300 nm. These materials exhibited characteristic europium ion luminescence. The europium-bearing nanocrystals and were then incorporated into the copolymer systems of MA/St and luminescence functional optical resins with high lanthanide content (50 wt%) were obtained. The combination of these particles and optical resins is facile because the diameter of Eu(DBM)₃·H₂O is decreased. These copolymer-based optical resins not only possess good transparency and mechanical performance, but also exhibit an intense narrow band emission of lanthanide complexes and longer fluorescence lifetimes under UV excitation at room temperature.