Facile fabrication of novel Eu‐containing copolymer and luminescent properties

A new Eu‐containing copolymer was successfully fabricated through two steps. First, the Eu‐containing monomer was synthesized from 4‐Vinylbenzoic acid and europium ion (Eu³⁺) complex, which rare‐earth ions connect with the ligand by covalent bands. Next, the copolymer was obtained by free‐radical copolymerization of Eu‐containing monomer with methyl methacrylate using 2, 2′‐azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) as initiator at low temperature. Infrared spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography and scanning electron microscopy were applied to characterize the structure of the polymer. UV‐visible absorption/photoluminescence spectra and fluorescence spectra were taken to valuate the photophysical properties of the obtained Eu‐containing copolymer. The experimental result shows that the strong luminescence of europium ions substantiates optimum energy match and effective intramolecular energy transfer between the triplet state energy of coordination complex and the emissive energy level of the rare‐earth ions. A study of the dependence of emission intensities of the Eu‐containing nanoparticles on the Eu content showed that the emission intensities increased nearly linearly with increasing Eu content. In addition, no significant emission concentration quenching phenomenon was observed at the Eu content of 0–4.61 mol%. The hybrid material systems can be expected to have potential applications in light conversion materials. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers