MODIFICATION OF POLYAMIDE MEMBRANE BY SOL-GEL AND INCORPORATION OF LUMINESCENT EUROPIUM (III) COMPLEX

Abstract

Over the last decades, the combination of different technologies to search for systems with new properties and features has brought various segments of biological and earth sciences together. Additive manufacturing, known as rapid prototyping, combined with the sol-gel methodology enables the production of novel systems with applications in many scientific fields. In this work, flexible polyamide membranes were obtained by additive manufacturing, functionalized by the sol-gel methodology, and incorporated with the coordination compound between Eu(III) and 1,10-phenanthroline. The presence of vibrations at 1100 cm^-1 in the FTIR spectrum of the material, which is a band typical of the Si-O-Si group in the alkoxide employed during the process, confirmed the polyamide membrane functionalization. The thermogravimetric curve showed that a residue remained after heating at 700 ºC, which was attributed to SiO₂. The membrane was highly luminescent, which confirmed incorporation of the Eu³⁺ compound into the material and pointed to the possible application of this system as a topical medication for the treatment of skin diseases.

Keywords:
sol-gel; photodynamic therapy; luminescence; europium III compounds