Novel lanthanide hybrid functional materials for high performance luminescence application: The relationship between structures and photophysical behaviors Jun Xu a , Lei Jia b , Yufei Ma a , Xiao Liu a , Hao Tian a , Weisheng Liu a , Yu Tang a, * a Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China b Department of Physics and Chemistry, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, PR China highlights graphical abstract < A new kind of efficient luminescent lanthanide hybrid materials has been assembled. < The materials can efficiently emit green or red light under UVA irradiation. < The relationship between photo- physical behaviors and structures was discussed. < A suitable conjugated system should allow a more efficient energy transfer. article info Article history: Received 9 January 2012 Received in revised form 17 May 2012 Accepted 19 June 2012 Keywords: Non-crystalline materials Chemical synthesis Photoluminescence spectroscopy Luminescence abstract Functional luminescent hybrid materials have emerged as fascinating and promising materials for their versatile applications. In this report, novel efficient luminescent lanthanide (Tb 3þ , Eu 3þ ) hybrid materials with a new kind of amide-type b-diketone ligands covalently bonded to the silica gels have been assembled through the solegel progresses. The hybrid materials have been characterized by the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, UVevis absorption spectra, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and thermal analyses. The relationship between structures and photo- physical behaviors of these materials was discussed in detail. The materials assembled by the precursors containing aromatic end group (SieL 1 eLn) exhibited longer luminescence lifetimes and higher quantum efficiencies, suggesting that the existence of a suitable conjugated system should allow a more efficient energy transfer. Under UV irradiation, the materials emitted either bright green light or red light with different intensity which may lead to potential functional applications in optical devices and electronic devices. Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The trivalent lanthanide ions are well-known for their sharp and intense emission bands based on fef electronic transitions and a wide range of lifetimes suitable for various applications such as optoelectronic devices [1], biological fluorescence labeling [2], white light-emitting devices [3] and multicolor pigments [4]. As already noticed, the direct Ln 3þ photoexcitation is not very effi- cient, due to the fef electronic transitions are forbidden and the non-radiative deactivations of their excited states by OeH oscil- lators exist. However, the luminescence intensity of Ln 3þ can be improved significantly through the design of lanthanide complexes, in which the ligands incorporating organic chromo- phores serve as antennae or sensitizers that strongly bonded to * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 931 8912552; fax: þ86 931 8912582. E-mail address: tangyu@lzu.edu.cn (Y. Tang). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Materials Chemistry and Physics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matchemphys 0254-0584/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2012.06.038 Materials Chemistry and Physics 136 (2012) 112e119