Study of the luminescence of tris(2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonato)lanthanide(III) complexes covalently linked to 1,10-phenanthroline-functionalized hybrid sol–gel glasses

The solubility and uniform distribution of lanthanide complexes in sol–gel glasses can be improved by covalently linking the complexes to the sol–gel matrix. In this study, several lanthanide image-diketonate complexes (Ln=Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Er, Yb) were immobilized on a 1,10-phenanthroline functionalized sol–gel glass. For the europium(III) complex, a sol–gel material of diethoxydimethylsilane (DEDMS) with polymer-like properties was derived. For the other lanthanide complexes, the sol–gel glass was prepared by using a matrix of tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) and DEDMS. Both systems were prepared under neutral reaction conditions. High-resolution emission and excitation spectra were recorded. The luminescence lifetimes were measured.