Acidity and Cd2+ fluorescent sensing and selective CO2 adsorption by a water-stable Eu-MOF

Abstract

A new Eu-MOF was designed from an amino-functionalized ligand and Eu(III) ions under solvothermal conditions. It is a highly porous, water-stable, and luminescent material, exhibiting pH sensing in the acidic range of pH = 7–3 with selective detection for Cd²⁺ by an enhanced fluorescence of ∼23-fold against a series of metal ions. Gas adsorption performance shows that Eu-MOF exhibits a high CO₂/N₂ (15/85) selectivity of 109.4 at 273 K and 1 atm. This performance was superior to that of most reported Ln-MOFs owing to its appropriate pore size, dipole–dipole interaction and donor–acceptor Lewis affinities.