Waste PET as a Reactant for Lanthanide MOF Synthesis and Application in Sensing of Picric Acid

In this study, a lanthanide metal organic framework based on the ligand of terephthalic acid derived from waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles was designed and synthesized. The structure and morphology of the Tb-BDC was investigated by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Tb-BDC displays a high selectivity and sensitivity towards picric acid (TNP). The luminescence intensities exhibit a linear relation, with a concentration of TNP over the range of 1 × 10^-5-1 × 10^-4 M, with a limit of detection of 1 × 10^-5 M. The sensing mechanism is also discussed. This is the first time that waste PET materials have been used as the starting precursor of terephthalic acid (BDC) for the fabrication of lanthanide MOF (metal organic framework), which is applied in sensing TNP.