A novel anhydrous preparation of silica (SiO2)-encapsulated terbium (Tb3+) complex nanoparticles has been investigated. The SiO2-Tb3+ nanoparticles are incorporated in electrospun polyvinylpyrrolidone hybrid nanofibers. Transmission electron microscopy confirms that Tb3+ complexes are uniformly and stably encapsulated in or carried by nanosilica. The influence of pH on the fluorescence of Tb3+ complexes is discussed. The properties, composition, structure, and luminescence of the resulting SiO2–Tb3+ hybrid nanoparticles are investigated in detail. There is an increase in the fluorescence lifetime of SiO2–Tb3+ nanoparticles and SiO2–Tb3+/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) hybrid nanofibers compared with the pure Tb3+ complexes. Due to the enhanced optical properties, the fluorescent hybrid nanofibers have potential applications as photonic and photoluminescent materials.
Tm3+ has obvious emission characteristics in the near-infrared band. Thulium ions combined with different organic ligands lead to different fluorescent properties. In the near-infrared region, Tm3+ is a down-conversion fluorescent material that is unstable under high temperature and acidic conditions. Moreover, in those complex environments, the fluorescence from Tm3+ complex is usually degraded. In this work, two kinds of near-infrared fluorescent complexes, Tm(TTA)3phen and Tm(DBM)3phen, were prepared, and the intensity of their fluorescence is compared. The fluorescence intensity at 802 nm is greatly improved compared with Tm(TTA)3phen, and the intensity of the emission at 1235 nm and 1400–1500 nm is also enhanced. Moreover, the emission lifetime of SiO2-Tm(TTA)3phen is 50.38 μs. Tm(TTA)3phen complex and SiO2-Tm(TTA)3phen hybrid materials have better fluorescence than Tm(DBM)3phen and SiO2-Tm(DBM)3phen. Therefore, HTTA is a better choice of organic ligands for Tm3+. The NIR-fluorescent hybrid materials prepared have stronger fluorescence after combining with nano-SiO2compared with pure Tm3+ complexes, and have stronger structural stability compared with pure nano-SiO2.
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