Abstract

This study presents the microwave-assisted synthesis and characterization of a series of heterometallic coordination polymers (HMCPs) with a 4-methyl-2,6-di[(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)]phenoxo ligand with varying Eu-III/Tb-III ratios. Single crystal X-ray diffraction reveals a double-chain structure bridged by triazolyl groups. Powder X-ray diffraction confirms the isostructural nature of the synthesized HMCPs. The photophysical properties depend on lanthanide ion concentration and excitation wavelength, leading to a color shift from green to blue as the proportion of Tb-III decreases and Eu-III increases. White light generation is achieved in the 8/2 Eu-III/Tb-III HMCP (CIE: 0.293, 0.326) under 335 nm excitation. The study suggests energy transfer from Tb-III to Eu-III, but both experimental and theoretical calculations indicate that this transfer is orders of magnitude lower than the sensitization through ligand states. (c) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Society of Rare Earths. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).