Abstract
Lanthanide (LnIII) ions were successfully chelated and sensitized with a tripodal ligand. The absolute LnIII-centered emission efficiencies were ~3% for both the europium(III) (EuIII) and terbium (TbIII) complexes and up to 54% for the cerium(III) (CeIII) complex. The differences in emission quantum yields for the early lanthanides (CeIII) and the mid lanthanides (EuIII and TbIII) were attributed to their d–f and f–f nature, respectively. Despite the low quantum yield of the EuIII complex, the combination of the residual ligand fluorescence and the red EuIII emission resulted in a bluish-white material with the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates (0.258, 0.242). Thus, metal complexes of the ligand could be used in the generation of single-component white-light-emitting materials.
Highlights
The unique properties of trivalent lanthanide, LnIII, ions have resulted in their applications in imaging, sensing, and telecommunications [1,2,3,4,5]
The versatility of a tripodal ligand was demonstrated with successful sensitization of LnIII ions in molecular complexes, leading to an intense blue emission with a quantum yield of 54% for the CeIII complex
Despite the low quantum yield of the EuIII complex, the combination of the residual ligand fluorescence and the red EuIII emission resulted in a bluish-white-emitting material with the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates (0.258, 0.242)
Summary
The unique properties of trivalent lanthanide, LnIII, ions have resulted in their applications in imaging, sensing, and telecommunications [1,2,3,4,5]. LnIII ions have long emission lifetimes which makes them ideal probes for imaging of biological tissue, as their long emission lifetimes can be discriminated from the autofluorescence of biological tissue [4] Another consequence of the parity-forbidden nature of their emission is that LnIII ions have low molar absorptivities (ε = 1–10 M−1cm−1); their direct excitation is inefficient [4,6]. Polybenzimidazole ligands are a less explored class of chelating ligands for sensitizing LnIII ions due to their limited solubility [15,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. Efficient sensitization of LnIII ions can be achieved by using ligands with high molar extinction coefficients and significant spectral overlap between the emission of the ligand and the absorption of the LnIII ion [9]. The photophysical properties, along with the emission lifetimes and quantum yields of the three molecular complexes, are discussed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
