Color-tunable heat-resistant polyaryletherketones co-coordinated with various rare earth ions

Abstract Europium (Eu3+) and terbium (Tb3+) ions coordinated with 1,10-phenantroline (Phen), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and carboxyl-containing polyaryletherketone (PEK) represent new luminescent materials ( PEK - Eu x 3 + Tb 1 - x 3 + - Phens , x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1). The results of FTIR, elemental analysis and XRD confirm that the coordination reaction indeed occurs and the rare earth ions are homogeneously dispersed in the PEK matrix. The polyarylethertone rare earth complexes exhibit high glass transition temperature and good thermal stability because of their wholly aromatic structures. The luminescence measurements indicate that the relative emission intensities of Tb3+ to Eu3+ ions depend on their ratio in the system, and the color of PEK - Eu x 3 + Tb 1 - x 3 + - Phens under UV excitation can be tuned by changing the x value. The materials thus prepared show promising potential in the full color large area display field.