Samarium(III) picrate tetraethylene glycol complex: Photoluminescence study and active material in monolayer electroluminescent

A mononuclear Sm(III) complex involving Pic and EO4 (where Pic=picrate anion and EO4=tetraethylene glycol) has been studied. It shows a bright-orange emission when used as active material in a monolayer electroluminescent device of ITO/EO4–Sm–Pic/Al. The crystal structure of the complex consists of [Sm(Pic)2(H2O)(EO4)]+ cation and [Pic]− anion. The Sm(III) ion is coordinated with nine oxygen atoms from one EO4 ligand in a pentadentate mode, two Pic anions each in bidentate and monodentate modes, and one water molecule. Both the terminal alcohol groups of the acyclic EO4 ligand were involved in the O–H…O hydrogen bonding by infinite one-dimensional (1D) chain within a symmetry direction [0 1 0]. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the thin film shows the typical spectral features of the Sm(III) ion (4G5/2→6H7/2 transitions). The root-mean-square (rms) of the roughness of thin film is 30.605 nm and indicates that the formation of the monolayer electroluminescent device is not uniform and retains a high crystallinity. Typical semiconductor current–voltage (I–V) property was also observed in this device with threshold and turn voltages of 2.8 and 6.2 V, respectively. The [Sm(Pic)2(H2O)(EO4)](Pic)·H2O complex can be applied as a luminescent center in OLED for bright-orange emission.