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Tuneable Emission of Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Based Nanostructures that Self-Assemble in the Presence of Europium(III) Ions: Reversible trans-to-cis Isomerization.

Valerio CinàEsther CarbonellLuca FusaroHermenegildo GarcíaMichelangelo GruttadauriaFrancesco GiacaloneCarmela Aprile
Published in: ChemPlusChem (2019)
Hybrid nanostructures with switchable and reversible "blue-red-green" emission were efficiently synthesized. These nanostructures comprise polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) that behave as a nanocage that can be functionalized with terpyridine-based organic ligands, which can be easily complexed with europium (III) ions. The complexes were characterized by UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy and their stoichiometry was also confirmed by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. In the presence of the Eu(III) ions, the octafunctionalized nanocages self-assemble to form 3D architectures that display an intense red-emission, especially in the solid state. The presence of an alkenyl group bridging the inorganic core to the organic moiety was employed to tune the emission properties by trans-cis isomerization of the double bond. In the case of the octafunctionalized nanocages (O-POSS), this isomerization was monitored in the presence of Eu(III) cations and was accompanied by an evident colour change from blue (trans-O-POSS) to red (Eu@trans-O-POSS) and finally to green (cis-O-POSS) as consequence of the release of the metal cations. This behaviour, together with the easy dispersion of the dry powder and the possibility of coating as a film in presence of small amounts of solvent, makes the emissive solid promising for applications in materials science.
Keyphrases
  • solid state
  • water soluble
  • quantum dots
  • ionic liquid
  • public health
  • mass spectrometry
  • light emitting
  • tandem mass spectrometry
  • perovskite solar cells