• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.451-459
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• 2011

Eight coordinated terbium(III) complexes, tris (2-pyrazinecarboxylato)(phenanthroline) terbium(III) [$Tb(pzc)_3$(phen)], tris (5-methyl-2-pyrazinecarboxylato) (phenanthroline) terbium(III) [$Tb(mpzc)_3$(phen)] and tris(2-picolinato) (phenanthroline) terbium(III) [$Tb(pic)_3$(phen)], have been synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), UV-Visible and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy shows that these complexes emitted strong green luminescence. When powder samples of the $Tb^{3+}$ complexes are examined using time-resolved spectroscopic analysis, the luminescence lifetimes are found to be 0.87 ms and 1.0 ms, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis reveals the terbium complexes to have good thermal stability up to $333-379^{\circ}C$. Cyclic voltammetry shows that HOMO-LUMO energy gap of the $Tb^{3+}$ complexes ranges from 4.26~4.41 eV. These values are similar to those obtained from the UV-visible spectra. Overall, the synthesized $Tb^{3+}$ complexes may be useful advanced materials for green light emitting devices.