Water-induced luminescence improvement in a lanthanide β-diketone complex for monitoring water purity

Water-caused luminescence quenching is a well-known and intractable issue for luminescence lanthanide complexes, greatly confining their broad application as sensing and displaying devices in water system. Herein, an anionic and coordination-saturated lanthanide complex with a nanosheet-like structure has been prepared. It exhibits excellent photophysical properties both in solid state and in aqueous suspension. Noteworthily, a 13% improvement for sensitization efficiency from organic ligand to central lanthanide ion has been realized, indicating an exceptional phenomenon of water-induced luminescence improvement which is rarely reported previously. Moreover, the aqueous suspension of as-prepared luminophore could act as a chemo-sensor responding to various organic solvents in water. Both of water-induced luminescence improvement and extended sensing behavior in this work provide a new platform for developing highly performant and practical luminescent materials in the water system. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Automated summary

In this study, an anionic and coordination-saturated lanthanide complex with a nanosheet-like structure was prepared, showing excellent photophysical properties in both solid state and aqueous suspension. The water-induced luminescence improvement and extended sensing behavior demonstrated in this work provide a new platform for developing highly performant and practical luminescent materials in the water system.