Fabrication of luminescent layered lanthanide silicate hybrids by hydrothermal and sol–gel technology

In this paper, some novel lanthanide layered silicate hybrid materials were fabricated with hydrothermal synthesis and sol–gel synthesis technology. The silane crosslingking reagents employed were (3-(methacryloyloxy) propyl-trimethoxysilane) (MTMS, H2CC(CH3)COO(CH2)3Si(OCH3)3), tetraethoxysilane (TEOS, Si(OC2H5)4), (3-chloropropyl) trimethoxysilane (CTMS, Cl(CH2)3Si(OCH3)3), and (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysilane (APES, H2N(CH2)3Si(OC2H5)3), respectively. X-ray power diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and N2 isotherms are used to characterize these hybrids. Especially luminescent spectra are used to investigate the photophysical properties of them, indicating all these hybrids can show the characteristic luminescence of Tb or Eu3+ ions for the energy transfer process to take place.