Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) possesses large application in technological areas due to ferroelectricity, that permits their use as electro-mechanical and electro-thermal transducers, speakers, sensors and to stimulate the growth of bone tissue in animals. However, in the last years the researchers are giving attention to the possibility of their use as a host for rare earth ions to be used in optical devices. Though, in certain cases it becomes necessary the utilization of ligands to promote the process of energy transfer from ligand to rare earth ions to get some improvements in the fluorescence spectra. In this sense, this work presents a study of the optical properties of PVDF doped with 2-amino terephthalate (AMT), Nd-AMT and Ce-AMT. The measurements of FT-IR confirmed the incorporation of dopant in the polymeric matrix. In the optical measurements in PVDF doped samples was observed a broadening in absorption as well as the fluorescence spectra with the increase of the Nd-AMT and Ce-AMT content. In summary, the experimental results revealed that the PVDF/Nd-MCA is a potential candidate for optical and photonic applications.
We are grateful to the Brazilian Agencies, CAPES, CNPq (process 483683/2010-8 and 208232/2014-1), for the financial support of this work. E. A. Falcão also acknowledges UTSA and MeMDRL for hosting him under the NSF/INAMM and NSF ECCS 1002380 programs.