Ultraviolet luminescence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in partially consolidated sol-gel silica glasses

Photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectra of sol-gel-derived silica glasses were studied in course of the consolidation of xerogel to dense glass. A number of ultraviolet PL bands in 3 eV–4 eV region were found, which have not been observed in pure silica glasses not exposed to carbon compounds. Such PL bands, some of which exhibit distinct vibronic structures at room temperature, have been persistently reported in various high-surface porous or nanoparticle forms of SiO₂. Based on their spectral shapes and decay kinetics properties, the structured PL bands in the 3.7–3.8 eV and 3.1–3.3 eV regions are assigned to polycyclic hydrocarbons, naphthalene and pyrene, respectively, which are formed from ethanol molecules created by hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane. These data support the hypothesis that PL activity of carbon-doped silica may be related to embedded aromatic carbon groups.