Lanthanide-grafted hollow bipyridine-based periodic mesoporous organosilicas as chemical sensors

We have synthesized a co-condensed hollow ethane-bipyridine periodic mesoporous organosilica (HEt-bpy-PMO) as a host material to anchor lanthanides for the purpose of developing a multifunctional chemical sensor. The host material was grafted with lanthanide chloride salts or complexes. The luminescence properties of the developed series of hybrid materials were studied in detail in the solid-state and after dispersing in water. The Eu³⁺ or Tb³⁺ singly incorporated materials were investigated for their use as ion sensors, showing ions selectivity towards Cu²⁺, Co²⁺ and Fe³⁺. Additionally, the Eu³⁺ or Tb³⁺ incorporated materials showed obvious luminescence quenching behavior towards acetone compared to other organic solvents, indicating excellent acetone sensing selectivity.