Construction of a flexible covalent organic framework based on triazine units with interesting photoluminescent properties for sensitive and selective detection of picric acid

Abstract

Highly emissive two-dimensional (2D) covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have rarely been reported due to the challenge of inhibiting the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) caused by π–π stacking between layers. To address this issue, the use of flexible building units is a promising strategy. However, currently reported flexible 2D COFs generally exhibit poor crystallinity, low surface area, etc. and the mechanism of the excellent fluorescence performance for the flexible 2D COFs still needs to be further explored. In this article, a novel flexible 2D COF (DTZ-COF) was synthesized using two π-electron deficient triazine monomers rather than the commonly used one π-electron rich fused aromatic ring under solvothermal conditions. Fortunately, DTZ-COF exhibits excellent crystallinity and high surface area (1276.5131 m² g⁻¹ and 2087.5502 m² g⁻¹ for Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Langmuir surface area, respectively), which are rarely observed in previously reported flexible 2D COFs. The increased Lewis basic sites endow DTZ-COF with certain advantages in the separation of CO₂ and N₂. The comparison between flexible DTZ-COF and a non-flexible 2D COF (TPT-TPT-COF) with a similar framework suggests that the introduction of flexible building units can indeed improve the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency. The π-electron deficient DTZ-COF has excellent fluorescence performance and exhibits unique solvent responsiveness, such as fluorescence enhancement in aromatic solvents, and fluorescence quenching in alcohol and water. As a chemical sensor for detection of picric acid (2,4,6-trinitrophenol, TNP), the efficient fluorescence quenching involving both static and dynamic behaviors ensures high selectivity and sensitivity (ppb level).