Chemical-Bonding Assembly, Physical Characterization, and Photophysical Properties of Lanthanide Hybrids from a Functional Thiazole Bridge

Two organic ligands derived from thiazole were modified by 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl isocyanate (TESPIC) to achieve the molecular precursors (P1 and P2). Then, the organic-inorganic hybrid materials (LnM1 and LnM2, Ln = Eu and Tb) were obtained by using these as bridging molecules to coordinate with lanthanide ions and form inorganic Si-O networks with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) after cohydrolysis and copolycondensation processes, whose composition, microstructures, and photophysical properties were studied. All of the materials were amorphous and no phase separation occurred. The photoluminescence properties of these materials revealed that all these hybrids can show the characteristic luminescence of lanthanide ions. The ratios of red/orange, decay times, emission quantum efficiency of Eu3+ hybrid materials were also determined. Furthermore, the number of water molecules coordinated to the Eu3+ ion was theoretically estimated on the basis of emission spectra and the lifetime of the D-5(0) state.