Regulation on the ligand fluorescence in UiO-66-Y metal-organic frameworks for effective detection of nitro-aromatic explosives

Abstract

Rapid, sensitive and highly selective detection of nitro-aromatic explosives (NAEs) has become one of the most pressing environmental and safety issues. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer new possibilities for the development of new photoactive materials with excellent sensing properties. In this paper, three robust UiO-66-type fluorescent MOFs were prepared from the self-assembly of yttrium cations (Y³⁺) and linear dicarboxylic acid ligands, named terephthalic acid (BDC), 2-hydroxyterephthalic acid (OHBDC) and 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalic acid (DHBDC). The solid and solution fluorescence properties of three MOFs were successfully modulated by regulating the number of –OH functional groups from zero to two. At 370 nm excitation, Y-BDC MOF without –OH group was almost non-fluorescent, Y-OHBDC MOF with one –OH group emitted blue fluorescence, and Y-DHBDC MOF with two –OH groups emitted green fluorescence. Thanks to the suitable porous structures and stable frameworks, Y-OHBDC and Y-DHBDC MOFs both can quantificationally detect at least seven nitro-aromatic explosives (NAEs) by a fluorescence quenching process. Remarkably, the detection performance for 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) is the most outstanding with the K_SV values of 8.4 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ and 2.1 × 10⁵ M⁻¹. Fast response, high sensitivity, strong anti-interference ability and good reusability make UiO-66-Y MOFs potential fluorescent sensors for TNP.