A robust and multifunctional calcium coordination polymer as a selective fluorescent sensor for acetone and iron (+3) and as a tunable proton conductor

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. C, Materials for optical and electronic devices Vol. 8; no. 47; pp. 16784 - 16789
• Main Authors: Wu, Zhao-Feng, Fu, Zhi-Hua, Velasco, Ever, Xing, Kai, Wang, Hao, Zou, Guo-Dong, Huang, Xiao-Ying, Li, Jing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 17.12.2020; Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
• Subjects: Acetone; Aqueous solutions; Bonding strength; Calcium ions; Conductors; Coordination polymers; Crystal structure; Crystallography; Dimensional stability; Emission analysis; Ferric ions; Ferrous ions; Fluorescence; Hydrogen bonding; Infrared spectroscopy; Low concentrations; Nyquist plots; Oxidation; Proton conduction; Robustness; Water chemistry
• ISSN: 2050-7526; 2050-7534
• DOI: 10.1039/d0tc04371k

A multifunctional calcium coordination polymer (Ca-CP) formulated as [(CH 3 ) 2 NH 2 ][Ca(Me 2 tcpbH)(H 2 O)] ( 1 ) has been synthesized and characterized. Compound 1 features a robust and novel three-dimensional (3D) network with cage-like cavities. The high thermal and moisture stability of the title compound makes it a good candidate for possible environment or energy related applications. Fluorescence (FL) studies demonstrate that 1 shows emission with a maximum at 350 nm under 270 nm excitation. The title compound acts as a selective and sensitive fluorescent sensor for the detection of acetone and Fe 3+ ions at low concentrations. The FL intensity quenching percentage and the concentration ratio of Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ showed a linear relation with a Fe 3+ concentration as low as 50 μM in Fe 2+ aqueous solutions, offering an easy way to probe the extent of Fe 2+ oxidation. Moreover, due to the relatively high hydration character of Ca 2+ , the terminal water molecules and undeprotonated carboxylate groups form a strong hydrogen-bonded network within the structure, facilitating its tunable proton conduction under various humidity and temperature conditions. The proton conducting mechanism has been investigated using PXRD, IR, and EA methods. A robust 3D Ca-CP demonstrates selective fluorescence-based sensing of Fe 3+ and acetone as well as tunable proton conduction.