Hybrid xerogels doped with Tb(III) and Eu (III) and a water soluble Pybox ligand

Abstract

Hybrid organic-inorganic siliceous materials (ORMOSiLs) are a key focus within the nanoscience area as they combine advantages of inorganic materials without losing characteristics intrinsic of organic molecules. In the past years, our research group has designed hybrid siliceous xerogels (HSXG) with porosities and surface chemistries on demand for a range of applications, such as coatings for optic fiber sensors [1]. Although hybrid xerogels are mainly amorphous materials, recent studies by our group have demonstrated that introducing specific organic fragments on the precursors can induce selforganization during the sol-gel process to obtain a series of transparent nanostructured HSXG [2]. In the present work, a step forward is taken in the applicability of this type of HSXG by doping them with Tb(III) or Eu (III) cations and a water-soluble pybox-based antenna ligand (Pybox-EG= 2,2′-(4-(2-Ethoxyethoxy)pyridine-2,6-diyl)bis(4,5-dihydrooxazole)). Inclusion of photoluminescence will provide the materials with new properties and therefore new applications in fiber optic sensors (FOS) or in solar cells devices.