Luminescence behavior of Eu3+ in polytitanasiloxane solution

Polytitanasiloxane solutions containing Eu3+ ions have been prepared by the hydrolytic cocondensation of tetraethoxysilane and tetrabutyl titanate. The UV‐vis absorption and the luminescence intensity were both found to increase with the increase of tetrabutyl titanate/tetraethoxysilane (TBT/TEOS) molar ratio. This revealed that the incorporation of TiO2 can result in the increase of absorption energy of the TiO group by near‐UV excitation and in the increase of energy transfer to the metal ion. At the same time, the intensity ratio of 5D0→7F2 to 5D0→7F1 increases as the TBT/TEOS molar ratio increases, indicating the formation of Eu3+O2−Ti4+ bonding. A longer decay time means that the Eu3+ ions are better dispersed and less clustered with the increase of TBT/TEOS molar ratio. The results on the luminescence properties of the Eu3+ in different media containing ethanol or water suggest that the incorporation of TiO2 can shield Eu3+ ions from the effect of water and ethanol molecules, which leads to an improvement of the Eu3+ surroundings. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1357–1363, 2006