Dual-emitting MOF⊃dye composite for ratiometric temperature sensing.

A strategy to achieve a ratiometric thermometer by encapsulating luminescent perylene dye into the pores of a europium metal-organic framework (MOF) is developed. The resulting MOF⊃dye thermometer exhibits highly temperature-dependent luminescence intensity ratio over the physiological temperature range, with a maximum sensitivity of 1.28% °C(-1) at 20 °C.

A porous metal-organic framework with -COOH groups for highly efficient pollutant removal.

A new metal-organic framework with -COOH groups has been realized and demonstrates strong interactions with methylene blue and thus the complete removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution.

Encapsulation of large dye molecules in hierarchically superstructured metal-organic frameworks.

Microporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent a new family of microporous materials, offering potential applications in gas separation and storage, catalysis, and membranes. The engineering of hierarchical superstructured MOFs, i.e., fabricating mesopores in microporous frameworks during the crystallization stage is expected to serve a myriad of applications for molecular adsorption, drug delivery, and catalysis. However, MOFs with mesopores are rarely studied because of the lack of a simple, effective way to construct mesoscale cavities in the structures. Here, we report the use of a perturbation-assisted nanofusion technique to construct hierarchically superstructured MOFs. In particular, the mesopores in the MOF structure enabled the confinement of large dye species, resulting in fluorescent MOF materials, which can serve as a new type of ratiometric luminescent sensors for typical volatile organic compounds.

A ratiometric and colorimetric luminescent thermometer over a wide temperature range based on a lanthanide coordination polymer.

A lanthanide coordination polymer Tb0.957Eu0.043cpda was synthesized as a ratiometric and colorimetric luminescent thermometer. The high triplet excited state energy of a linker enables Tb0.957Eu0.043cpda to detect and visualize temperature over a wide range from cryogenic to room temperature (40-300 K).