“Luminescent Eu(III)-containing xerogel films capable of sensing ions in aqueous solution.”

BEATRIZ C. BARJA; PEDRO F. ARAMENDÍA

San Carlos de Bariloche

Conferencia; 13th International Conference on Solis Films and Surfaces. (ICSFS-13); 2006

Centro Atómico Bariloche-CNEA

Luminescent Eu(III)-containing xerogel films capable of sensing ions in aqueous solution Beatriz C. Barja and Pedro F. Aramendíaand Pedro F. Aramendía INQUIMAE, DQIAyQF, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires Ciudad Universitaria Pab.II C1428EHA Buenos Aires Argentina. Lanthanide´s luminescent properties make these compounds especially profitable for the design of luminescent materials and chemical sensors. Moreover, the emission of Eu (III) complexes is used as a probe to sense the chemical environment in glass films, and gels in which the x-rays diffraction technique can not reveal the structure to the system. . Moreover, the emission of Eu (III) complexes is used as a probe to sense the chemical environment in glass films, and gels in which the x-rays diffraction technique can not reveal the structure to the system. In this work we use the sol-gel technique to develop porous films capable of in situ sensing differences in metal concentrations in aqueous solutions by means of luminescence quenching experiments. These materials can be classified in two categories: Class 1 are those which simply include the sensing compound in the matrix while Class 2 are hybrid materials in which the matrix was modified by a covalently attached sensing compound. Class 2 materials prevent the leaching of the sensing material, and are more suitable for the design of in-situ sensors. We developed Class I sensors for Cu (II) ions in silica matrixes capable of reversible detection of the metal in the ppm range in aqueous solution. Class 2 sensors are under study. Ageing or temperature treatment of the films can be monitored either by changes in the Eu (III) emission spectra or by changes in the electronic energy transfer to Eu (III) by antenna complexing agents.