Controllable preparation of carboxymethyl cellulose/LaF₃:Eu³⁺ composites and its application in anti-counterfeiting

In this experiment, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was used as raw material, rare earth chloride was used as inorganic nano luminescent material to prepare a series of lanthanide rare earth ions-doped composite materials. The photoluminescent materials were prepared via in-situ chemical deposition of rare earth ions onto CMC surface with the help of carboxyl groups contained on the surface of CMC. The structure, fluorescence properties, surface morphology, surface elements, crystalline structure and thermal stability of CMC before and after surface modification were characterized by FT-IR spectra (FTIR), photoluminescence spectra (PL), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal gravimetric analyses (TGA), respectively. The results showed that CMC/LaF₃:Eu³⁺ composites were successfully prepared, and the fluorescence intensity can be organically controlled by the reaction temperature, doping ratio and doping concentration of rare earth ions. The method has mild reaction conditions, facile process without expensive material equipment. Moreover, the as-prepared transparent anti-counterfeiting film possessed good fluorescence intensity, transparency and excellent mechanical properties, which can be used for large-scale functional packaging films.