Ammonia-Responsive Luminescence of Ln 3+ -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, Eu0.5 Tb0.5 (HPBAn )@ZY, show great potential as self-referencing luminescent sensor for detecting low ammonia concentration of 10-12 ⁻0.25 wt%.