The nanostructured and functionalized inorganic fluoride nanomaterials, ranging from nanoparticles or glass ceramics to thin layers and coatings, find many applications. However, due to scarcity of suitable metallic precursors, the chemical routes to heterometallic fluorides remain almost un-explored. We report new Na-Ln trifluoroacetate complexes with glyme ligands as excellent single source precursors for lanthanide-doped NaY(Gd)F4 upconverting (UC) nanocrystals, which efficiently convert infra-red radiation to shorter wavelength UV-visible region. These heterometallic precursors have multiple advantages over the extensively used homometallic Ln(TFA)3(H2O)x for above UC nanomaterials. These include their being anhydrous (presence of water molecules is detrimental for the UC properties), having comparatively low decomposition temperature and containing glyme ligand, which acts as a capping reagent during decomposition to provide controlled size and stable dispersion of nanoparticles in organic solvents. A comparative study on the decomposition behaviour of the Na-Y and Na-Gd precursors shows that the hexagonal phase of the NaY(Gd)F4 matrix, which is many fold more efficient for the UC process, is easily obtained at much lower temperature for the latter. Catalytic applications of these nanomaterials, either as support for gold catalysts in the oxidation reactions or their nanocomposites with titania for NIR-driven photocatalysis will be presented.

Single source precursors for heterometallic fluoride nanomaterials

247th National Meeting (2014)

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