Ammonia-Responsive Luminescence of Ln3+-β-diketonate Complex Encapsulated within Zeolite Y

Assembling Ln3+(HPBAn) (Ln = Eu or Tb, HPBA = N-(2-pyridinyl)benzoylacetamide) in the cavities of zeolite Y (ZY) via the "ship-in-a-bottle" strategy leads to the formation of novel luminescent composite, Ln(HPBAn)@ZY, whose luminescence can be easily modulated by ammonia on the basis of the energy level variation of HPBA after deprotonation process. Additionally the bimetallic complex doping sample, Eu0.5Tb0.5(HPBAn)@ZY, show great potential as self-referencing luminescent sensor for detecting low ammonia concentration of 10-12⁻0.25 wt%.