A novel thermally stable Eu(III) complex-modified acrylate nano-polymer and its luminescence properties

A Eu(III) complex-modified acrylate nano-polymer (Eu(III) complex-MA-np) is synthesized by semi-continuous emulsion polymerization. The organic-inorganic hybrid nanoparticles are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, laser particle size analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimeter. The nanoparticle size is in a range of 70-170 nm. The optical properties of Eu(III) complex-MA-np are investigated by photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation spectra, PL decay curve, and CIE chromaticity diagram. The Eu(III) complex-MA-np contains 1,3,5-trimethyltris(3, 3,3-trifluoropyropyl)cyclotrisiloxane (D₃F), where Eu³⁺ ions were surrounded by Si-O group through polymer complexation. TGA shows that the Eu(III) complex-MA-np was thermally stable up to 450 C due to the high bond energy of CF₃ units and Si-O bond. The Eu(III) complex-MA-np gives red emission with high color purity, which is excited at 350-450 nm effectively, indicating that the Eu(III) complex-MA-np is a potential red-emitting candidate for thermally stable white-LED nanodevices.