A multi-color and white-light emissive cucurbituril/terpyridine/lanthanide supramolecular nanofiber

Multi-color and white light luminescence materials based on supramolecular assemblies are attractive because of their potential applications in advanced light-emitting material. Herein, a cucurbit[8]uril-enhanced lanthanide luminescent supramolecular assembly was constructed in a facile but efficient way using terpyridine imidozalium cations, cucurbit[8]urils and rare earth ions such as Tb3+ and Eu3+. Significantly, the resultant fibrous supramolecular assembly, with an average width of 15 nm, could emit remarkable lanthanide luminescence, which was ten times higher than the corresponding terpyridine/Ln3+ without cucurbit[8]uril. And the solid state luminescence of supramolecular assembly could be smartly and easily turned among blue, green, red and white by adjusting the molar ratios between Tb3+ and Eu3+. The enhanced white-light emission by supramolecular strategy may provide a new approach for smart and tunable solid luminescent materials.