Decoration of graphene oxide sheets with luminescent rare-earth complexes

Graphene oxide sheets (GOSs) functionalized with rare-earth (RE) complexes were prepared using a noncovalent approach. The adsorption of RE complexes onto GOSs, as well as the individual nature of the hybrids, was confirmed. The GOS–RE complex hybrids and their dispersion can emit bright red luminescence, which makes them useful in many practical fields, such as biological labeling and anti-counterfeiting.