Hybrid silica nanoparticles for sequestration and luminescence detection of trivalent Rare Earth ions (Dy3+ and Nd3+) in solution.

New hybrid material-based adsorbents acting also as luminescent probes upon uptake of trivalent rare-earth (RE) ions Nd3+ and Dy3+ have been developed. SiO2 NPs functionalized by three different organic ligands, N-aminopropylen-amido-iminodiacetic acid (L1), pyridine-α,β-dicarboxylic acid bis(propylenamide) (L2), and N-propylen-iminodiacetic acid (L3), have been produced and fully characterized by 13C, 1H, and 29Si solid-state NMR, FTIR, TGA, XRD, TEM, nitrogen gas adsorption, and also by NTA and DLS in solution. The synthesized hybrid materials are well dispersible and stable in aqueous solutions according to NTA and consist of spheres with diameters less than 100 nm. Their affinities to the lanthanide ions Dy3+ and Nd3+ have been investigated in aqueous solution and characterized by SEM–EDS and complexometric titration, demonstrating that they can be successfully used as adsorbents for sequestration of trivalent RE ions. The adsorbed RE ions can efficiently be desorbed from saturated nanoadsorbents by addition of hydrochloric acid. The produced nanomaterials may also be used as luminescent probes for Dy3+ and Nd3+ ions in solution.