Luminescent Metal‐Organic Frameworks for Selectively Sensing Nitric Oxide in an Aqueous Solution and in Living Cells

Cu²⁺‐based metal‐organic framework (Cu? TCA ) (H₃ TCA = tricarboxytriphenyl amine) having triphenylamine emitters was assembled and structurally characterized. Cu? TCA features a three‐dimensional porous structure consolidated by the well‐established Cu₂(O₂CR)₄ paddlewheel units with volume of the cavities approximately 4000 nm³. Having paramagnetic Cu²⁺ ions to quench the luminescence of triphenylamine, Cu? TCA only exhibited very weak emission at 430 nm; upon the addition of NO up to 0.1 mM , the luminescence was recovered directly and provided about 700‐fold fluorescent enhancement. The luminescence detection exhibited high selectivity – other reactive species present in biological systems, including H₂O₂, NO₃^?, NO₂^?, ONOO^?, ClO^? and ¹O₂, did not interfere with the NO detection. The brightness of the emission of Cu? TCA also led to its successful application in the biological imaging of NO in living cells. As a comparison, lanthanide metal‐organic framework Eu? TCA having triphenylamine emitters and characteristic europium emitters was also assembled. Eu? TCA exhibited ratiometric fluorescent responses towards NO with the europium luminescence maintained as the internal standard and the triphenylamine emission exhibited more than 1000‐fold enhancement.     

Tunable Photodynamic Switching of DArE@PAF‐1 for Carbon Capture

A new type of photodynamic carbon capture material with up to 26 wt% CO₂ desorption capacity is synthesized via incorporation of diarylethene (DArE) as guest molecules in porous aromatic framework‐1 (PAF‐1). In these host–guest complexes, the carboxylic acid groups featured in DArE allow multiple noncovalent interactions to exist. DArE loadings ranging from 1 to 50 wt% are incorporated in PAF‐1 and the complexes characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, FT‐IR spectroscopy, CO₂, and N₂ adsorption. Successful inclusion of DArE in PAF‐1 is indicated by the reduction of pore size distributions and an optimum loading of 5 wt% is determined by comparing the percentage photo­response and CO₂ uptake capacity at 1 bar. Mechanistic studies suggest that photoswitching modulates the binding affinity between DArE and CO₂ toward the host, triggering carbon capture and release. This is the first known example of photodynamic carbon capture and release in a PAF.     

Porous Cu(I) Triazolate Framework and Derived Hybrid Membrane with Exceptionally High Sensing Efficiency for Gaseous Oxygen

Phosphorescent complexes of precious metal ions are widely studied as optical sensing materials for molecular oxygen. Combining the advantages of luminescent complexes and porous matrixes, porous coordination polymers show great potential for oxygen‐sensing, although their sensitivity, requirement of precious metal, and device fabrication remain challenging issues. In this work, the photoluminescence and oxygen‐sensing properties of the porous Cu(I) triazolate framework [Cu(detz)] (MAF‐2, Hdetz = 3,5‐diethyl‐1,2,4‐trizole) is studied in detail, which shows high chemical stability in moisture and water, very long phosphorescent lifetime (116 μs) and large Stokes shift (14 562 cm^?1), as well as considerable oxygen permeability (1.7 × 10^?11 mol cm^?1 s^?1 bar^?1) at ambient conditions, giving rise to exceptionally high luminescence quenching efficiency of 99.7% at 1 bar O₂ (I ₀/I ₁₀₀ = 356) with a perfectly linear Stern‐Volmer plot (K _SV = 356 bar^?1, R ² = 0.9998), fast response and good reversibility. Further, a counter‐diffusion crystal‐growth method was developed to fabricate MAF‐2 thin films protected by silicone rubbers as the first example of soft membrane oxygen sensor based on coordination polymer or metal‐organic framework, which exhibited extraordinary oxygen‐sensing performance (limit of detection = 0.047 mbar) and outstanding mechanical property, as well as outstanding chemical stability even in an acidic atmosphere.     

Dye Encapsulated Metal‐Organic Framework for Warm‐White LED with High Color‐Rendering Index

A strategy by encapsulating organic dyes into the pores of a luminescent metal‐organic framework (MOF) is developed to achieve white‐light‐emitting phosphor. Both the red‐light emitting dye 4‐(p‐dimethylaminostyryl)‐1‐methylpyridinium ( DSM ) and the green‐light emitting dye acriflavine ( AF ) are encapsulated into a blue‐emitting anionic MOF ZJU‐28 through an ion‐exchange process to yield the MOF?dye composite ZJU‐28?DSM/AF . The emission color of the obtained composite can be easily modulated by simply adjusting the amount and component of dyes. With careful adjustment of the relative concentration of the dyes DSM and AF , the resulting ZJU‐28?DSM/AF (0.02 wt% DSM , 0.06 wt% AF ) exhibits a broadband white emission with ideal CIE coordinates of (0.34, 0.32), high color‐rendering index value of 91, and moderate correlated color temperature value of 5327 K. Such a strategy can be easily expanded to other luminescent MOFs and dyes, thus opening a new perspective for the development of white light emitting materials.     

Smart Metal–Organic Frameworks with Reversible Luminescence/Magnetic Switch Behavior for HCl Vapor Detection

Smart luminescent metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) demonstrate promising performance in the detection of toxic gases. The incorporation of twisted or rotary organic ligands with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics can provide further opportunities in designing such smart MOFs with new topologies and stimuli-responsive behaviors. Herein, novel AIE MOFs are reported with reversible luminescence or a magnetic switch for HCl vapor detection. The twisted conformation of tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)ethylene (TCPE) ligand leads to the unique [M⁺–L–M⁻–L–M]_∞ (M = metal clusters, L = ligand) configuration for ZnMOF and CoMOF. Different from conventional MOFs with [M–L]_∞ topology, ZnMOF and CoMOF exhibit a blue-to-yellow greenish fluorescence transition and a ferrimagnetic-to-antiferromagnetic switch behavior, respectively, upon recognition of HCl vapor. The adsorbed HCl molecules rather than coordinated ones are determined to be the main reason, and such luminescence and magnetic switch can be induced in a reversible manner via HCl vapor adsorption/desorption processes with high reliability. This work of AIE MOFs with twisted and rotary ligands shall pave new avenue in design of smart MOFs with new topologies and stimuli-responsive behavior for real-time sensing and detection applications.     

Printing of Highly Integrated Crossbar Junctions

A new process is presented that combines nanoimprint lithography and soft lithography to assemble metal–bridge–metal crossbar junctions at ambient conditions. High density top and bottom metal electrodes with half‐pitches down to 50 nm are fabricated in a parallel process by means of ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography. The top electrodes are realized on top of a sacrificial layer and are embedded in a polymer matrix. The lifting of the top electrodes by dissolving the sacrificial layer in an aqueous solution results in printable electrode stamps. Crossbar arrays are noninvasively assembled with high yield by printing the top electrode stamps onto bare or modified bottom electrodes. A semiconducting and a quasi metal like conducting type of polymer are incorporated in the cross points to form metal‐polymer‐metal junctions. The electrical characterization of the printed junctions revealed that the functional integrity of the electrically addressed conductive polymers is conserved during the assembling process. These findings suggest that printing of electrodes represents an easy and cost effective route to highly integrated nanoscale metal‐bridge‐metal junctions if imprint lithography is used for electrode fabrication.     

Functional Defective Metal‐Organic Coordinated Network of Mesostructured Nanoframes for Enhanced Electrocatalysis

Although defects are traditionally perceived as undesired feature, the prevalence of tenacious low‐coordinated defects can instead give rise to desirable functionalities. Here, a spontaneous etching of mesostructured crystal, cyanide‐bridged cobalt‐iron (CN‐CoFe) organometallic hybrid into atomically crafted open framework that is populated with erosion‐tolerant high surface energy defects is presented. Unprecedently, the distinct mechanistic etching pathway dictated by the mesostructured assembly, bulk defects, and strong intercoordinated cyanide‐bridged hybrid mediates not only formation of excess low‐coordinated defects but also more importantly stabilizes them against prevailing dissolution and migration issues. Clearly, the heteropolynuclear cyanide bonded inorganic mesostructured clusters sanction the restructuring of a new breed of stable organometallic polymorph with 3D accessible structure enclosed by electrochemical active atomic stepped edges and high index facets. The exceptional electrocatalysis performance supports the assertion that defective mesostructured polymorph offers a new material paradigm to synthetically tailor the elementary building block constituents toward functional materials.     

Lanthanide Ion Codoped Emitters for Tailoring Emission Trajectory and Temperature Sensing

A series of lanthanide metal‐organic frameworks (Ln‐MOFs) are synthesized through solvothermal conditions with 1,3‐bis(4‐carboxyphenyl)imidazolium (H₂L). Owing to the lanthanide contraction effect, two different types of Ln‐MOFs, namely, {[Ln(L)₂(OH)]·3H₂O}_n (Ln:Pr, Nd, Sm) and {[Ln(L)₂(COO)(H₂O)₂]·H₂O}_n (Ln: Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Tm, Yb, Y), and their corresponding codoped Ln‐MOFs Eu_xTb_1‐xL are obtained. With careful adjustment of the relative concentration of the lanthanide ions and the excitation wavelength, the color of the luminescence can be systematically modulated and white light emission can be further successfully achieved. Furthermore, by virtue of the temperature‐dependent luminescent behavior, Eu_0.2Tb_0.8L allows for the design of a thermometer with an excellent linear response to temperature over a wide range, from 40 to 300 K. This work highlights the practical applications of Ln‐MOFs for tailoring fluorescent color and even obtaining practical white light emission, and especially for sensing temperature as luminescent thermometers in a single framework by controlling in different ways.