Synthesis, Characterization and Photophysical Properties of a New Family of Rare-earth Cluster-based Metal-organic Frameworks.

In this work, nine new rare-earth metal-organic frameworks (RE-MOFs, where RE = Lu(III), Yb(III), Tm(III), Er(III), Ho(III), Dy(III), Tb(III), Gd(III), and Eu(III)) isostructural to Zr-MOF-808 are synthesized, characterized, and studied regarding their photophysical properties. Materials with high crystallinity and surface area are obtained from a reproducible synthetic procedure that involves the use of two fluorinated modulators. At the same time, these new RE-MOFs display tunable photoluminescent properties due to efficient linker-to-metal energy transfer promoted by the antenna effect, resulting in a series of RE-MOFs displaying lanthanoid-based emissions spanning the visible and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Rare-earth acetates as alternative precursors for rare-earth cluster-based metal-organic frameworks.

RE-UiO-66 analogues are synthesized using RE acetates as precursors for the first time. These MOFs are fully characterized and the influence of the precursor on the materials obtained is studied. Additionally, the influence of water on the yield of the syntheses and the quality of the materials is explored.

Morphology Control of Self-Assembled Copper Coordination Polymers for Glucose Assays.

Low-cost analytical assays enable accessible detection of clinically and environmentally important analytes; however, common enzyme-based assays suffer from high production and storage costs. Catalytically active synthetic materials serve as replacements for natural enzymes, but development of cost-effective, highly efficient synthetic strategies remains a challenge. Here, we utilized a facile synthesis for copper bipyridine coordination polymers (CuBpyCPs) and investigated structure-function relationships to achieve optimal catalytic properties for a glucose assay. We demonstrated the manipulation of CuBpyCP morphology, resulting in nanoscale petal-like structures and microscale high-index faceted structures, and identified three pure crystal morphologies exhibiting a comparable catalytic activity (Km = 0.3-0.5 mM) to horseradish peroxidase.

Adsorptive removal of iodate oxyanions from water using a Zr-based metal-organic framework.

A Zr6-based metal-organic framework (MOF), MOF-808, is investigated for the adsorptive removal of IO3- from aqueous solutions, due to its high surface area and abundance of open metal sites. The uptake kinetics, adsorption capacity and binding mode are studied, showing a maximum uptake capacity of 233 mg g-1, the highest reported by any material.