Preparation of Novel Europium Complex Doped Ag@SiO2 Nanoparticles with Intense Fluorescence

In this study, a new europium complex of 4,4'-bis (1",1",1",2",2",3",3"-heptafluoro-4",6"- hexanedion-6"-yl)-o-terpheny-Eu(3+)-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylic acid-(3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (BHHT-Eu(3+)-DPPDA-APTMS) was prepared first. Then novel core-shell Ag@SiO2 nanoparticles with BHHT-Eu(3+)-DPPDA-APTMS doped in shell were synthesized by a facile water-in-oil microemulsion method. The properties of the prepared complex and nanoparticles, and the effect of metal enhanced fluorescence for the nanoparticles were investigated. The prepared nanopartilces exhibited intense fluorescence, uniform morphology and good water-solubility. The fluorescent intensities of silver core-present nanopartciles were significant higher than that of silver core-absent nanoparticles owing to the metal enhanced fluorescence of silver core. It is expectable that the as-prepared nanoparticles can serve as a potential fluorescent nanoprobe, applying in high sensitive biological and medical detections.