Tunable energy transfer from d10 heterobimetallic dicyanide(I) donor ions to terbium(III) acceptor ions in luminescent Tb[AgxAu1−x(CN)2]3 (x = 0 → 1)

We report on the heterobimetallic system, Tb[AgxAu1−x(CN)2]3 (x = 0 → 1), in which sensitization of terbium luminescence occurs by energy transfer from [AgxAu1−x(CN)2]− donor excited states. The donor states have energies which are tunable and dependent on the Ag/Au stoichiometric ratio. We report on their use as donor systems with Tb(III) ions as acceptor ions in energy transfer studies. Luminescence results show that the mixed metal dicyanides with the higher silver loading have a better energy transfer efficiency than the pure Ag ( CN ) 2 - and Au ( CN ) 2 - donors. The better energy transfer efficiency is due to the greater overlap between the donor emission and acceptor excitation.