Decoration of surface-carboxylated graphene oxide with luminescent [Sm.sup.3+]-complexes

A [Sm.sup.3+] complex, iris-(2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone) mono-1,10-phenanthroline-[Sm.sup.3+] [Sm[(TTA).sub.3] (Phen)], can be easily integrated in situ via covalent functionalization to surface-carboxylated graphene oxide (GO-COOH) from a ethanol solution. The [Sm.sup.3+] containing material has been comprehensively characterized via Fourier transform infrared spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorption spectra, luminescence spectra, transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis (TG and DTG). The integration of rare earth complexes (RE) onto GO-COOH, as well as the individual nature of the hybrids, is confirmed. The GO-COOH with high load capacity can integrate more RE than GO. The brilliant optical properties of the GO-COOH-RE complex hybrids make them promising candidates applying in many practical fields, such as biomedical applications.