Intense multi-colored luminescence in a series of rare-earth metal–organic frameworks with aliphatic linkers?

DALTON TRANSACTIONSDALTON T Pub Date: DOI: 10.1039/D1DT00872B

Abstract

Two series of highly luminescent yttrium(III), europium(III) and terbium(III) metal–organic frameworks containing diimine aromatic ligands and the dicarboxylate linker trans-1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate (chdc2?) which can be described by the general formulas [M2(bpy)2(chdc)3], where M = Y3+ (1), Eu3+ (2), and Tb3+ (3) and bpy = 2,2′-bipyridyl, and [M2(phen)2(chdc)3], where M = Y3+ (4), Eu3+ (5), and Tb3+ (6) and phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, were synthesized and characterized. All compounds are based on the same dinuclear {M2(L)2(OOCR)6} building blocks and possess a similar topology of the 3D framework with narrow pores. The chelate aromatic ligands act as efficient light-harvesting antennas for subsequent energy transfer to the emitting metal center (M = Eu3+, Tb3+) or intraligand photoemission (M = Y3+). As a result, the reported compounds display intense emission in the red (Eu3+), green (Tb3+) or blue (Y3+) regions representing three basic colors (RGB) of visible light. The measured quantum yields (QYs) of the solid-state luminescence for individual compounds were found to be 63% (1), 46% (2), 59% (3), 2.3% (4), 55% (5) and 49% (6). The drastic reduction of the luminescence efficiency for 4 is explained by the strong disorder of phen ligands. The high thermal stability (up to 300 °C) and exceptional moisture resistance of the bpy-based frameworks 1–3 were confirmed by TG and PXRD measurements. Various bimetal or trimetal compositions were also prepared for the bpy-series. The luminescence properties of these mixed-metal compounds depend on both the chemical composition and excitation wavelength (λex). Remarkably, pure white emission with color temperature = 6126 K was achieved for [Y1.68Eu0.08Tb0.24(bpy)2(chdc)3] at λex = 360 nm with QY = 20%. The reported results suggest that the obtained coordination framework series is a convenient platform for the design of highly efficient light emitting materials with tunable properties.

Graphical abstract: Intense multi-colored luminescence in a series of rare-earth metal–organic frameworks with aliphatic linkers
Recommended Literature