Luminescent porous metal–organic gels for efficient adsorption and sensitive detection of chlortetracycline hydrochloride assisted by smartphones and a test paper-based analytical device

Abstract

Developing dual functional materials for chlortetracycline hydrochloride (CTC) adsorption and detection is of great importance for wastewater treatment and pollution monitoring. Herein, three novel (Fe-Tb) JLUE-MOGs are synthesized through the solvothermal method, and possess hierarchical porous structures, ample active sites and large surface areas. CTC adsorptive removal by the JLUE-MOGs could reach satisfactory results in batch experiments and optimization research due to the joint contributions of pore filling, water affinity, electrostatic interaction, π–π EDA interaction and hydrogen bonding. Additionally, the fluorescence of JLUE-MOG-9 could be turned off by adsorbing CTC due to the inner filter effect (IFE) with a detection limit of 0.079 μM by fluorescence spectrometry. More importantly, JLUE-MOG-9@paper are fabricated as portable, handy and cheap detectors for on-site CTC recognition with the help of the corresponding analytical device and a smartphone. The values of the G channel have good linear relationships with the various CTC concentrations regardless of the distilled water, tap water or river water being tested. On the one hand, this study develops efficient and sensitive JLUE-MOGs for CTC removal and detection. On the other hand, the shapeable JLUE-MOG-9@paper detectors and the relevant analytical devices open an avenue for on-site CTC detection by smartphones in real wastewater treatment.