Investigation of the Sensing Properties of Lanthanoid Metal–Organic Frameworks (Ln-MOFs) with Terephthalic Acid

Abstract

The solvothermal synthesis of LnCl3 .nH2O with terephthalic acid (benzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid, H2BDC) produced metal–organic frameworks (LnBDC), [Ln2 (BDC)3 (H2O)4 ]∞, where Ln = Sm, Eu, Tb, and Dy. The materials obtained were characterized by a number of physico-chemical techniques. The influence of the ionic radius of the lanthanides on the microstructural characteristics of the Ln-MOFs was evaluated by performing Rietveld refinement. The MOFs obtained were tested as fluorescent sensors for numerous cations and anions in water. The highly luminescent EuBDC and TbBDC demonstrated multi-responsive luminescence sensing functions to detect Ag(I), Fe(III), Cr(III), and Cr(VI), which are essential for their environmental applications. By applying the non-linear Stern–Volmer equation, the fluorescent quenching mechanism was determined. The stability of the obtained materials in water in a wide pH range (acidity pH = 4 and alkalinity pH = 9 solutions) was confirmed.