Ce–surfactant lamellar assemblies with strong UV/visible emission and controlled nanostructures

Abstract

We describe self-organization–reorganization of a lanthanide (Ln)–surfactant lamellar hybrid with intense photoluminescence and controlled nanostructures. We reveal that UV luminescence exhibited by a Ce–dodecyl sulfate (DS) lamellar hybrid offers the maximum quantum yield (QY) of 90% among all types of Ce–organic hybrid materials. In addition, Ce–Tb dodecyl phosphate (DP) lamellar hybrids exhibit bright green emission due to the two-dimensional Ce3+–Tb3+ energy transfer (ET) process in Ln–PO4 layers. Furthermore, a Ce–DS film with a highly oriented nanostructure and Ce–Tb–DP colloidal nanosheets are fabricated through simple and effective reorganization routes. The concept of “reorganization routes” opens up new pathways to general- and large-scale fabrication of two-dimensional nanomaterials on the basis of metal–surfactant assemblies with a variety of physical and chemical properties.