Charge-transfer-based terbium MOF nanoparticles as fluorescent pH sensor for extreme acidity

• Functional ion and ligands were used directly to design and customize sensor for H+ by MOF platform.
• These functional components were made into responsive nanoparticles.
• Well-designed combination led to a highly specific fluorescent response to H+ via preset mechanism.
• Tb3+-luminescent nanoparticles are impervious to autofluorescence of biosystems.

Newly emerged metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have aroused the great interest in designing functional materials by means of its flexible structure and component. In this study, we used lanthanide Tb3+ ions and small molecular ligands to design and assemble a kind of pH-sensitive MOF nanoparticle based on intramolecular-charge-transfer effect. This kind of made-to-order MOF nanoparticle for H+ is highly specific and sensitive and could be used to fluorescently indicate pH value of strong acidic solution via preset mechanism through luminescence of Tb3+. The long luminescence lifetime of Tb3+ allows eliminating concomitant non-specific fluorescence by time-revised fluorescence techniques, processing an advantage in sensing H+ in biological media with strong autofluorescence. Our method showed a great potential of MOF structures in designing and constructing sensitive sensing materials for specific analytes directly via the assembly of functional ions/ligands.

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