Synthsis and characterization of Tb3+/Eu3+ complexes based on 2,4,6-tris-(4-carboxyphenyl)-1,3,5-triazine ligand for ratiometric luminescence temperature sensing

By choosing C3 symmetric 2,4,6-tris-(4-carboxyphenyl)-1,3,5-triazine (TCTZ) as the ligand, a series of lanthanide metal-origanic complexes Tb1-xEux-TCTZ(DMF)·2H2O(x = 0, 0.01, 1) have been successfully synthesized via solvothermal reaction. The complexes present intense emission although with coordinationofwater molecules. The temperature-dependent photoluminescent (PL) properties of Tb-TCTZ is investigated both in terms of emission intensity and lifetime in order to establish their potentials as luminescent themometers. It shows excellent responseto temperature from 303 to 403 K and exhibits the maximum relative sensitivity(Sr) as high as 5.36% K−1 at 403 K. Tb0.99Eu0.01-TCTZ is evaluated for application as ratiometric luminescence thermometers, which exhibits high sensitivity to temperature in range of 303–403 K, with the maximum absolute sensitivity (Sa) and Sr as 5.16% and 3.22% K−1 respectively. The obtained maximum sensitivities in this study is superior to many materials reported. Moreover, the emission color changes from green at 303 K to red at 403 K, so that it is also suitable to act as colorimetric luminescent probes.