Nanocomposite of europium organic framework and quantum dots for highly sensitive chemosensing of trinitrotoluene

• Nanocomposite of europium organic framework and quantum dots has been synthesized.
• EuOF/QD nanocomposite has been investigated for detection of trinitrotoluene (TNT).
• Photoluminescence (PL) quenching of EuOF/QD is observed in presence of TNT.
• Linear range of detection is 5–1000 ppb with the limit of detection of 3 ppb.
• Proposed detection of TNT is selective toward closely related aromatic compounds.

Luminescent metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are considered as next-generation sensor materials for small molecules and explosives. In the present work, a nanocomposite of luminescent europium organic framework (EuOF) and CdSe quantum dots (QDs) has been first time investigated for photoluminescence (PL) based highly sensitive detection of trinitrotoluene (TNT). The nanocomposite EuOF/QD has been synthesized by initiating the growth of EuOF in the presence of QDs. The successful synthesis of the product has been verified with the help of electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and surface area measurements. Compared to EuOF alone, the EuOF/QD nanocomposite offers reproducible and stable measurements. The linear range of PL quenching based detection of TNT with EuOF/QD nanocomposite is 5–1000 ppb with the detection limit of 3 ppb. The detection of TNT with EuOF/QD is selective with respect to some other investigated aromatic compounds, such as phenol, o-cresol, toluene, benzene, nitrobenzene and nitrophenol.