Optical Features of Lanthanide Luminescent Hydrogel Based on Polyethylene Glycol with Silica Nanoparticles

Inorganic/polymer hybrid hydrogels generally exhibit excellent mechanical properties, while extra function include luminescence are extremely explored due to the further application in sensors and optoelectronic devices. Herein, we report the rare-earth (RE) complex/silica nanoparticles (SNs) luminescent hybrid polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels showing stable luminescence. The hybrid hydrogels coordinated with RE (Eu3+) complex are fabricated via a convenient in situ photocrosslinked procedure. The coordination polymers showed red luminescent color under the 365 nm UV irradiation. Furthermore, the hybrid hydrogel exhibited long luminescence lifetime. These properties of hybrid luminescent hydrogel gave rise to a great improvement in the potential applications as a soft material.