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Luminescent polymethacrylate composite nanofibers containing a benzoic acid rare earth complex: Morphology and luminescence properties.
Fulai Zhao , Peng Xi , Haiying Xia , Chaohua Wang , Li Gao , Bowen Cheng
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 641
Graphical abstract
Abstract
In this study, we
systematically investigated the morphologies and luminescence properties of
luminescent polymethacrylate composite nanofibers containing a benzoic acid
rare earth complex. The analysis results indicated that the benzoic acid rare
earth complex, Tb(4-methylbenzoic acid)3phen, was distributed uniformly in the
polymethacrylate nanofibers, which were fabricated by electrostatic spinning.
The Tb(4-methylbenzoic acid)3phen content in the polymethacrylate nanofibers
was as high as 20% (mass%). The emission peaks of the as-prepared
polymethacrylate composite nanofibers corresponded to the characteristic 5D4–7F6, 5, 4, 3 transitions of Tb3+ ions. The highest emission peak was
observed at 548 nm and corresponded to the 5D4–7F5 transition. When the Tb(4-methylbenzoic acid)3phen content was less
than 1%, even a 0.2% increase in the content increased the fluorescence
intensity markedly. The thermal stability of the rare earth complex was higher
in the as-prepared nanofibers; the initial decomposition temperature of the
polymethacrylate composite nanofiber reached 291 °C. Composite nanofibers with different morphologies exhibited different
luminescence characteristics. The fluorescence intensity and emission lifetime
of porous nanobeads were nine and two times higher, respectively, than those of
smooth nanofibers. The better morphological and luminescence properties
exhibited by the synthesized luminescent polymethacrylate composite nanofibers
should result in the use of benzoic acid rare earth complexes in a greater
number of applications.
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