In situ sol–gel composition of luminescent hybrid material incorporated with terbium coordination polymers

A two-step sol–gel method was developed with hydrochloride as acid catalyst for hydrolysis process and hexamethylenetetramine as base catalyst for the synthesis of terbium coordination polymers with ortho- or meta-methyl benzoic acid. Some luminescent terbium species were incorporated in silica and silica gel/polymer hybrid matrix, and binary and ternary polymeric hybrid materials were assembled. Comparing with the luminescence behavior of corresponding hybrid material with a one-step sol–gel method of doping, the in situ synthesized hybrid material shows the similar luminescent intensities while the preparation period was greatly shortened. In the range of concentration of luminescent species (0.1–2.0 wt.%), emission intensity increases with the increasing of corresponding terbium complexes and no concentration quenching effect takes place.