Direct anchoring of Eu3+ complex to derivative surfaces of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (Eu@DSCNTs) for linear fluorescence nanomaterials

Multi-structuralized carbon nanotubes provide various possibilities to create a new generation of functional materials. In this article, the derivative surfaces of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (DSCNTs) have been developed by starting with initial carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to obtain the derivative structures of oxidized CNTs (oxCNTs) and unzipped CNTs (uCNTs). The Eu3+ complex is successfully directly anchored onto DSCNTs (Eu@DSCNTs) and produces linear fluorescence nanomaterials by introducing functional groups and sufficient specific surface area on the derivative surfaces. The obtained photophysical data, including UV absorption, fluorescence intensities and lifetimes, of the CNTs, oxCNTs and uCNTs have confirmed the improvement of derivative surfaces by oxCNTs and uCNTs, and the improvement is even greater for uCNTs. Furthermore, fluorescence fibres (Eu@DSCNTs/PAN) were obtained by electrospinning in a solution of Eu@DSCNTs with polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The fluorescence nanofibers have excellent fluorescence properties through the improvement of the derivative surface and exhibit excellent processability.