A novel, luminescent, silica-sol-gel hybrid based on surfactant-encapsulated polyoxometalates

A modified sol-gel approach is used for the preparation of stable silica materials based on a surfactant-encapsulated polyoxometalate (see figure, top panel). In this hybrid material, the luminescence properties of the polyoxometalate and the processibility of the sol-gel matrix are synergistically combined (see figure, bottom panel). This method is, in principle, applicable to all varieties of polyoxometalates, and the resulting composites could be used for applications in optics and catalysis.