Tunable white-light emission hybrids based on lanthanide complex functionalized poly (ionic liquid): Assembly and chemical sensing

A series of novel poly (ionic liquid) based lanthanide hybrid materials POSS-PVIM@ [Ln (DBM)(3)] (Ln = Eu, Tb, Gd, DBM = Dibenzoyl methane, PVIM = Polyvinyl imidazole, POSS = polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane.) have been synthesized by the copolymerization of POSS with lanthanide functionalized ionic liquid [Ln (DBM)(3)]@VIM-PA. The obtained hybrids were characterized by FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, XPS, TGA and luminescence spectroscopy. POSS-PVIM@ [Eu (DBM)(3)] and POSS-PVIM@[Tb (DBM)(3)] exhibit the characteristic emission of center ions, which indicate that POSS-PVIM could effectively sensitize Eu3+ and Tb3+. More Especially, the luminescent color can be tuned into white excited at 300 nm UV when the ratio of three different lanthanide cations (Eu3+, Tb3+, Gd3+) is 1:3:3. Furthermore, the luminescence films are also prepared, which shows the uniformity and transparency. Light and thermal stability of these as-obtained samples are also improved due to the long chain structure of polymer and rigid skeleton of POSS. In addition, the fluorescent sensing property of the POSS-PVIM@[Eu (DBM)(3)] was investigated in detail, which shows selective luminescence quenching effect for Cr2O72--. These results provide meaningful data for the multi-component assembly and responsive luminescent of photo functional hybrids based on Poly (ionic liquid) and lanthanide, which can be expected to have potential application in the luminescent sensor devices.