Abstract
New luminescent cage-like tetranuclear silsesquioxanes [NEt(4)][(Ph(4)Si(4)O(8))(2)(Tb(3)Eu)(NO(3))(4)(OH)(EtOH)(3)(H(2)O)]·4(EtOH) (1) and [NEt(4)](2)[(Ph(4)Si(4)O(8))(2)(Tb(2)Eu(2))(NO(3))(6)(EtOH)(2)(MeCN)(2)]·4(MeCN) (2) present a tunable thermosensitive Tb(3+)-to-Eu(3+) energy transfer driven by Tb(3+) and Eu(3+) emission and may be used as temperature sensors operating in the range 41-100 °C with excellent linearity (R (2) = 0.9990) and repeatability (>95%). The thermometer performance was evidenced by the maximum relative sensitivity of 0.63% °C(-1) achieved at 68 °C.