Lanthanide (Eu3+, Tb3+) centered mesoporous hybrids with 1,3-diphenyl-1,3-propanepione covalently linking SBA-15 (SBA-16) and poly(methylacrylic acid).

1,3-Diphenyl-1,3-propanepione (DBM)-functionalized SBA-15 and SBA-16 mesoporous hybrid materials (DBM-SBA-15 and DBM-SBA-16) are synthesized by co-condensation of modified 1,3-diphenyl-1,3-propanepione (DBM-Si) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in the presence of Pluronic P123 and Pluronic F127 as a template, respectively. The as-synthesized mesoporous hybrid material DBM-SBA-15 and DBM-SBA-16 are used as the first precursor, and the second precursor poly(methylacrylic acid) (PMAA) is synthesized through the addition polymerization reaction of the monomer methacrylic acid. These precursors then coordinate to lanthanide ions simultaneously, and the final mesoporous polymeric hybrid materials Ln(DBM-SBA-15)(3)PMAA and Ln(DBM-SBA-16)(3)PMAA (Ln=Eu, Tb) are obtained by a sol-gel process. For comparison, binary lanthanide SBA-15 and SBA-16 mesoporous hybrid materials (denoted as Ln(DBM-SBA-15)(3) and Ln(DBM-SBA-16)(3)) are also synthesized. The luminescence properties of these resulting materials are characterized in detail, and the results reveal that ternary lanthanide mesoporous polymeric hybrid materials present stronger luminescence intensities, longer lifetimes, and higher luminescence quantum efficiencies than the binary lanthanide mesoporous hybrid materials. This indicates that the introduction of the organic polymer chain is a benefit for the luminescence properties of the overall hybrid system. In addition, the SBA-15 mesoporous hybrids show an overall increase in luminescence lifetime and quantum efficiency compared with SBA-16 mesoporous hybrids, indicating that SBA-15 is a better host material for the lanthanide complex than mesoporous silica SBA-16.