Optical spectroscopy following the incorporation of a rare-earth containing (Eu) polyoxometalate into a sol-gel derived media†
Abstract
Polyoxometalates (POMs) are an emerging class of materials which can be considered as inorganic complexes with distinct structural and optical characteristics. To be suitable in biomedical applications such as imaging, the materials may need to be embedded in a suitable host material, which may affect the optical properties of the emitting polyoxometalate. Here, we demonstrate that POMs can successfully be included into a sol-gel derived