A new zinc-organic framework with 1D channel for constructing a ratiometric Al3+-selective sensor and four inputs INHIBIT logic gate

Abstract

To develop Al3+ fluorescent sensor is significant because the abnormal levels of Al3+ in environment may pose great threat to human body. Herein, a novel metal–organic framework {Zn(Dpada)(Imdba)·H2O}n (Dpada = 3, 6-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl) pyridazine and Imdba = 2, 2′-iminodibenzoic acid), named Zn-MOF, has been architected with one-dimensional channel under hydrothermal conditions. Zn-MOF exhibits good thermal and solvent stability and can also keep structural integrity over the pH range of 5.0 – 9.0. Fluorescent experiments show that Zn-MOF has high selectivity and sensitivity towards Al3+ via ratiometric fluorescence signal changes (F470 nm/F390 nm) and the detection limit is evaluated to be 0.69 μM. In addition, Zn-MOF performs good recyclability in sensing of Al3+ with at least 5 cycles. Besides, an INHIBIT logic gate has been constructed with chemical ions (Al3+, Cr3+, Fe3+ and Hg2+) as input signals and emission ratio (F470 nm/F390 nm) as output signal. Significantly, Zn-MOF can be applied to tracing Al3+ using real water samples, presenting great potential in water quality monitoring application.