Assembly, characterization, and photoluminescence of hybrids containing europium(III) complexes covalently bonded to inorganic Si-O networks/organic polymers by modified beta-diketone.

1-(2-naphthoyl)-3,3,3-trifluoroacetonate (NTA) was grafted to the coupling agent 3-(triethoxysilyl)-propyl isocyanate (TEPIC) and used as the first kind of precursor, and other kinds of precursors (PVPD, PMAA, and PVPDMAA) were synthesized through the addition polymerization reactions of the monomer 4-vinylpyridine and methacrylic acid. Then, these precursors coordinated to rare earth ions, and the three kinds of hybrid polymeric materials were obtained after hydrolysis and copolycondensation with the tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) via a sol-gel process. FTIR, ultraviolet, ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection and photoluminescent spectra, electronic microscopy diagraphs, room-temperature X-ray diffraction patterns, and TG plots were characterized, and the results reveal that the hybrid materials imbedded into the single polymer (PVPD and PMAA) showed more uniformity in the microstructure, more efficient intramolecular energy transfer between europium ions and the modified ligand NTA-Si and more excellent characteristic emission of europium ions under UV irradiation with higher (5)D(0) luminescence quantum efficiency and longer lifetime than the hybrid materials imbedded into the multipolymer (PVPDMAA).