A novel thermally stable Eu(III) complex-modified acrylate nano-polymer and its luminescence properties

Abstract

A Eu(III) complex-modified acrylate nano-polymer (Eu(III) complex-MA-np) is synthesized by semi-continuous emulsion polymerization. The organic–inorganic hybrid nanoparticles are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, laser particle size analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimeter. The nanoparticle size is in a range of 70–170 nm. The optical properties of Eu(III) complex-MA-np are investigated by photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation spectra, PL decay curve, and CIE chromaticity diagram. The Eu(III) complex-MA-np contains 1,3,5-trimethyltris(3,3,3-trifluoropyropyl)cyclotrisiloxane (D3F), where Eu3+ ions were surrounded by Si–O group through polymer complexation. TGA shows that the Eu(III) complex-MA-np was thermally stable up to 450 °C due to the high bond energy of CF3 units and Si–O bond. The Eu(III) complex-MA-np gives red emission with high color purity, which is excited at 350–450 nm effectively, indicating that the Eu(III) complex-MA-np is a potential red-emitting candidate for thermally stable white-LED nanodevices.