The influence of preparation conditions on the fluorescence properties of Eu(Sal)₃Phen

The influence of the synthesis conditions (method and sequence of adding reagents, reaction temperature, stirring rate) on the luminescence performance of the rare earth ternary complex compound europium-salicylic acid-(1,10-phenanthroline) [Eu(Sal)₃Phen] was studied. We show that the method and sequence of adding reagents greatly affects the luminescence properties of the products. Within the range of synthesis temperatures (30-70°C), the complex has a better luminescence performance at the lower temperature. However, performance decreased when the temperature decreased to 20°C. Increase of stirring rate led to better performance in the range 200-700 r.p.m. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) were utilized to characterize the structure and morphology of Eu(Sal)₃Phen. The studies demonstrate that the crystallization of the product increased with increasing luminescence of the product. Therefore, it is proposed that increasing the crystallization of the product will enhance its luminescence performance.