Rare earth fluorides, due to their unique physicochemical properties, have become important matrices for preparing up/down conversion luminescent materials. However, traditional rare earth fluoride luminescent materials are prone to hygroscopicity, affecting their luminescent performance. To address this issue, researchers often use silica (SiO₂) coatings to modify their surfaces, enhancing the materials' hydrophobicity and stability. Building upon this, this study proposes an innovative strategy to prepare a novel rare earth fluoride-based composite aerogel (YF₃:Yb³⁺,Er³⁺@SiO₂) with a ribbon-like structure through uniaxial electrospinning, acid-base dual catalysis, and freeze-drying. This material not only exhibits excellent luminescent properties but also combines elasticity and hydrophobicity, providing new insights for the design of optical functional materials.
This study successfully constructed a novel rare-earth fluoride-based composite aerogel-YF₃:10%Yb³⁺,1%Er³⁺@15%SiO₂ ribbon-like nanoribbon aerogel (BIBSN aerogel). This material was prepared using uniaxial electrospinning combined with a single-crucible fluorination calcination process. Experimental results show that YF₃:10%Yb³⁺,1%Er³⁺@15%SiO₂BIBSN exhibits strong green upconversion luminescence under 980 nm excitation. Furthermore, this aerogel maintains excellent elasticity after multiple compression-release cycles at 200 g pressure and possesses good hydrophobicity, with a water contact angle of approximately 120.71°. This novel aerogel material, combining luminescence, elasticity, and hydrophobicity, shows broad application prospects in fields such as solid-state lighting, bioimaging, anti-counterfeiting, and optical detection. The study further explored the structural characteristics, luminescence properties, elastic behavior, and hydrophobic properties of the material, revealing the relationship between its unique ribbon-like structure and excellent multifunctional properties.
The conclusions of this study indicate that the YF₃:10%Yb³⁺,1%Er³⁺@15%SiO₂ ribbon-like nanoribbon aerogel prepared by uniaxial electrospinning and acid-base dual-catalytic freeze-drying not only inherits the excellent luminescence properties of rare earth elements but also exhibits unique structural advantages, thus achieving the integration of multifunctional properties. This novel aerogel material preparation strategy provides a low-cost and simple approach for designing multifunctional luminescent aerogels with elastic properties, and is expected to promote the practical application of optical functional materials in more fields.