A water-stable lanthanide-MOF as a highly sensitive and selective luminescence sensor for detection of Fe3+ and benzaldehyde

This paper studies the application of lanthanide metal-organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs) in fluorescence detection . The europium-based metal-organic frameworks (Eu-MOFs) are synthesized by a facile solvothermal method , and then the as-prepared MOF were further characterized by PXRD , FT-IR, TG, EDS, SEM, UV–vis spectra and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that Eu-MOF exhibits an intense red fluorescence, which can be readily observed by naked eye in solid state, good structural stability and fluorescence stability in aqueous solution or other organic solvents , especially high selectivity and sensitivity to Fe 3+ and benzaldehyde and the visible color change by the naked eye under UV-light. This luminescent MOF can be used to detect Fe 3+ and benzaldehyde in an aqueous environment with low detection limits of 0.027 μM for Fe 3+ and 0.011 μM for benzaldehyde.