Hybrid materials of MCM-41 functionalized by lanthanide (Tb3+, Eu3+) complexes of modified meta-methylbenzoic acid: Covalently bonded assembly and photoluminescence

Novel organic–inorganic mesoporous hybrid materials were synthesized by linking lanthanide (Tb3+, Eu3+) complexes to the mesoporous MCM-41 through the modified meta-methylbenzoic acid (MMBA-Si) using co-condensation method in the presence of the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant as template. The luminescence properties of these resulting materials (denoted as Ln-MMBA-MCM-41, Ln=Tb, Eu) were characterized in detail, and the results reveal that luminescent mesoporous materials have high surface area, uniformity in the ordered mesoporous structure. Moreover, the mesoporous material covalently bonded Tb3+ complex (Tb-MMBA-MCM-41) exhibits the stronger characteristic emission of Tb3+ and longer lifetime than Eu-MMBA-MCM-41 due to the triplet state energy of organic legend MMBA-Si matches with the emissive energy level of Tb3+ very well.