Luminescence properties of the ternary rare earth complexes with β-diketones and 1,10-phenanthroline incorporated in silica matrix by a sol-gel method

Abstract

Ternary complexes of rare earth Eu(dbm) 3 · phen and Tb(acac) 3 · phen (dbm = dibenzoylmethanide, acac = acetylacetone and phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) were introduced into silica gel by the sol-gel method. The result indicated that the rare earth ions (Eu 3+ and Tb 3+) showed fewer emission lines and slightly lower emission intensities in the silica gel than in the pure rare earth complexes. The lifetimes of rare earth ions in silica gel (Eu 3+ and Tb 3+) doped with Eu(dbm) 3 · phen and Tb(acac) 3 · phen were longer than those in pure Eu(dbm) 3 · phen and Tb(acac) 3 · phen. A very small amount of rare earth complexes doped in a silica gel matrix can retain excellent luminescence properties.