Synthesis of the wire-in-tube structure porous C12H12O12S3Tb2@g-C3N4/ZnO luminescent composite in hydrothermal condition

•Luminescence intensity of TbSSA was improved by the narrow band gap g-C3N4.•An obvious narrow edge layer of g-C3N4 was shown on the outer surface of the tube wall.•Tube-wrapped-wire porous TbSSA@g-C3N4/ZnO was obtained by hydrothermal method.•Wire-like TbSSA was wrapped in g-C3N4/ZnO tube with porous structure. [Display omitted] The wire-in-tube structure was often prepared by electrostatic spinning method, and a kind of novel wire-in-tube structure porous C12H12O12S3Tb2 @g-C3N4/ZnO luminescent material was obtained by hydrothermal method in this study in which a wire-like C12H12O12S3Tb2 was wrapped in the inner layer of the porous tube-like g-C3N4/ZnO shell layer, and an obvious g-C3N4 narrow edge layer was distributed on the outer layer of the tube-like structure. Due to the wire-in-tube structure and the stronger UV absorption capacity of g-C3N4/ZnO matrix and organic ligand (SSA), the characteristic emission of Tb was greatly enhanced in the C12H12O12S3Tb2 @g-C3N4/ZnO phosphors which showed a very strong green light emission at 543 nm. On the other hand, the g-C3N4 shows much better absorbing ability to visible light which has been rarely used to optimize the luminescence properties of rare earth materials. In this study, the g-C3N4 showed the absorption to 490 nm emission light which was precisely used to improve the emission at 543 nm.