Multifunctional Ionogels Incorporated with Lanthanide (Eu(3+), Tb(3+)) Complexes Covalently Modified Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Ionogels refer to an emerging composite material made from the confinement of ionic liquids within some specific cross-linked network matrices. They have potential applications in areas such as electrochemical and optical-electric materials. Incorporation of lanthanide (Eu(3+), Tb(3+)) complexes covalently functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in ionogels provide new ideas to design and synthesize novel luminescent hybrid materials that have excellent characteristics of luminescence and ionic conductivity. Here, the multifunctional ionogels were synthesized by confining an ionic liquid and the rare earth functionalized MWCNTs in the cross-linked polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) networks, resulting in a novel optical/electric multifunctional hybrid material. The SEM images and digital photographs suggest that the lanthanide functionalized MWCNTs are evenly dispersed in the hybrid matrices, thus leading to a certain transparency bulky gel. The resulting ionogels exhibit certain viscosity and flexibility, and display an intense red/green emission under UV-light irradiation. The intrinsic conductibility of the embedded ionic liquids and carbon nanotubes in conjunction with the outstanding photoluminescent properties of lanthanide complexes makes the soft hybrid gels a material with great potential and valuable application in the field of optical-electric materials.