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Facile one-step solvothermal synthesis of a luminescent europium metal-organic framework for rapid and selective sensing of uranyl ions

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Abstract

A simple, cost-effective, and portable uranium sensory material with adequate selectivity is increasingly urgent and would be of great importance in environmental monitoring of radionuclides. Herein, we report a novel luminescent europium metal-organic framework (Eu-MOF) with plenty of Lewis basic sites for binding uranyl ions (UO22+), the most common form of uranium in solution, through a facile one-step solvothermal synthetic route. The mesoporous structure consists of europium nodes and flexible nitrogen-containing ligands with a 29.2 × 20.5 Å2 channel along the c-axis. Furthermore, the obtained material displays characteristic fluorescence of trivalent Eu3+ and could be applied as a turn-off sensory probe targeting UO22+ in solution. Differential fluorescent quenching occurred upon a series of potential interfering ions compared to UO22+ and the detection limit as low as 0.9 μM was achieved with a rapid response.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Collaboration Program of Institute of Materials, China Academy of Engineering Physics, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers, 21775008), and the Shanghai Sailing Program (19YF1448800).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Linnan Li, Sensen Shen, Wanpeng Ai, Yu Bai & Huwei Liu

  2. The MOE Key Laboratory for Standardization of Chinese Medicines, The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China

    Linnan Li

  3. Analytical Instrumentation Center, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Jie Su

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  1. Linnan Li
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Correspondence to Huwei Liu.

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Published in the topical collection New Insights into Analytical Science in China with guest editors Lihua Zhang, Hua Cui, and Qiankun Zhuang.

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Li, L., Shen, S., Su, J. et al. Facile one-step solvothermal synthesis of a luminescent europium metal-organic framework for rapid and selective sensing of uranyl ions. Anal Bioanal Chem 411, 4213–4220 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-01875-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-01875-2

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