Europium metal-organic framework containing helical metal-carboxylate chains for fluorescence sensing of nitrobenzene and nitrofunans antibiotics

Food safety and environmental pollution have become prevalent concerns around the world. The development of a facile detection method towards nitroaromatic pollutants and antibiotics in the environment is exceedingly desirable for protecting human health and controlling the risks of sanitation pollution. Herein, a new europium metal-organic framework (Eu-MOF), which is built from helical rod-shaped europium carboxylate chains, has been synthesized and broadly explored. The compound exhibits intense red luminescence output of typical Eu³⁺ ions both in solid and in the alcohol solutions. Notably, it shows rapid and efficient fluorescence quenching effects towards the nitrobenzene (NB) and nitrofurans antibiotics (NFAs). As a dual-functional chemosensor, the Eu-MOF has a broad application prospect for its sensitive identification and visual detection in the future. The mechanism of the quenching effect was investigated in detail, and the density functional theory also proved the result.