Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 16, 2026

Hyperspectral Imaging as a Tool to Study Optical Anisotropy in Lanthanide-Based Molecular Single Crystals
Published on: April 14, 2020
Ytterbium-Gadolinium Pyrenates: Morphology-Dependent NIR-Emission with Record Quantum Yield in Powder State
Anastasia V Orlova1, Vladislava Kozhevnikova1, Alexander S Goloveshkin2
1M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 1, build. 3, 119991 Moscow, Russian Federation.
None:
In this study, we report the synthesis peculiarities of lanthanide pyrenates, which reveal an unprecedented dehydration process in water: Yb(pyr)3(H2O)5 → Yb(pyr)3(H2O)1.5 → Yb(pyr)3. Ln(pyr)3 are isostructural in the row of Ln = Ce-Yb, and for highly crystalline Ho(pyr)3, the crystal structure was obtained by Rietveld refinement. The morphology evolution upon boiling was studied for ytterbium pyrenates, and the morphology was demonstrated to correlate with luminosity. We proposed the mechanism explaining this dependence and confirmed it through time-resolved photoluminescence studies. As a result of the morphology optimization, the quantum yield increased four times, and the highest to date quantum yield of a solid ytterbium complex was obtained (6.1% in Yb0.6Gd0.4(pyr)3).
Related Concept Videos
Molecular Spectroscopy: Absorption and Emission
Photoluminescence: Applications
IR Absorption Frequency: Hybridization
Among the sp, sp2, and sp3 hybridized orbitals, sp orbitals have the maximum s character (50%). Consequently, the electrons are held more closely to the nucleus, resulting in stronger and shorter C–H bonds that...
Atomic Spectroscopy: Absorption, Emission, and Fluorescence

