Germanium tetra(tertiary butoxide): Synthesis, structure and its utility as a precursor for the preparation of europium doped germanium oxide nanoparticles

Germanium tetra(tertiary butoxide), [Ge(OtBu)4], has been prepared by the reaction of GeCl4 with KOBut in benzene. It is a monomeric crystalline solid having a distorted tetrahedral configuration, defined by the coordination of four OBut groups around germanium atom. The TG analysis showed that the compound is thermally stable and volatilizes at around 130 °C. Europium doped and un-doped germanium oxide nanoparticles were prepared based on the urea hydrolysis of Ge(OtBu)4/Eu(OOCCH3)3 in ethylene glycol medium at 150 °C followed by heating the resulting product at 750 °C. The nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, TEM and PL measurements. The europium doped nanoparticles, which were nearly monodispersed (∼30 nm), showed luminescence and the Eu3+ ions were occupying the surface of the GeO2 nanoparticles.