Preparation and luminescence properties of ternary europium complex and its silica-based composites

Novel ternary complex of Eu3+ with N-propyl-4-carboxyphthalimide (NP) and 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) has been prepared and characterized by means of infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) and 1H-NMR. Furthermore, its silica-based composites have been prepared via a sol–gel approach. The luminescence properties of the lanthanide complex as well as its silica-based composites have been investigated by means of spectrofluorimeter and phosphorimeter. The results indicated that the resulting transparent organic–inorganic composites provided strong red emission under UV light irradiation even at low concentration of lanthanide complex, e.g. 0.02 mol%. By comparison with ternary lanthanide complex, the silica composites showed fewer emission lines and longer lifetime.