Self-assembly of a terbium(III) 1D coordination polymer on mica

The terbium(III) ion is a particularly suitable candidate for the creation of surface-based magnetic and luminescent devices. In the present work, we report the epitaxial growth of needle-like objects composed of [Tb(hfac)₃·2H₂O] _n (where hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate) polymeric units on muscovite mica, which is observed by atomic force microscopy. The needle-like shape mimics the structure observed in the crystalline bulk material. The growth of this molecular organization is assisted by water adsorption on the freshly air-cleaved muscovite mica. This deposition technique allows for the observation of a significant amount of nanochains grown along three preferential directions 60° apart from another. The magnetic properties and the luminescence of the nanochains can be detected without the need of surface-dedicated instrumentation. The intermediate value of the observed luminescence lifetime of the deposits (132 µs) compared to that of the bulk (375 µs) and the CHCl₃ solution (13 µs) further reinforces the idea of water-induced growth.

Synthesis, characterization and properties of salicylhydrazide-salicylacylhydrazone derivatives and their terbium complexes

A series of terbium complexes with salicylhydrazide-salicylacylhydrazone derivatives were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra, UV/vis spectra and thermal analysis. The luminescence and electrochemical properties of the terbium complexes were investigated. The results show that all the target complexes exhibited characteristic emissions of terbium ions and the complex substituted by the chlorine has the strongest luminescence intensity with the highest quantum yield at 0.609. The introduction of donating electron groups could increase the oxidation potential and the highest occupied molecular orbital energy level of the terbium complex; however, the introduction of accepting electron groups gave the opposite result.

Synthesis, crystal structure and fluorescence properties of terbium complexes with phenoxyacetic acid and 2,4,6-tris-(2-pyridyl)-s-triazine

Two complexes of Tb(3+), Gd(3+) /Tb(3+) and one heteronuclear crystal Gd(3+)/Tb(3+) with phenoxyacetic acid (HPOA) and 2,4,6-tris-(2-pyridyl)-s-triazine (TPTZ) have been synthesized. Elemental analysis, rare earth coordination titration, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and thermogravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) analysis show that the two complexes are Tb2 (POA)6 (TPTZ)2 · 6H2O and TbGd(POA)6 (TPTZ)2 · 6H2O, respectively. The crystal structure of TbGd(POA)6 (TPTZ)2 · 2CH3OH was determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The monocrystal belongs to the triclinic system with the P-1 space group. In particular, each metal ion is coordinately bonded to three nitrogen atoms of one TPTZ and seven oxygen atoms of three phenoxyacetic ions. Furthermore, there exist two coordinate forms between C6H5OCH2COO(-) and the metal ions in the crystal. One is a chelating bidentate, the other is chelating and bridge coordinating. Fluorescence determination shows that the two complexes possess strong fluorescence emissions. Furthermore, the fluorescence intensity of the Gd(3+)/Tb(3+) complex is much stronger than that of the undoped complex, which may result from a decrease in the concentration quench of Tb(3+) ions, and intramolecular energy transfer from the ligands coordinated with Gd(3+) ions to Tb(3+) ions.