Hybrid Membrane of Agarose and Lanthanide Coordination Polymer: a Selective and Sensitive Fe(3+) Sensor.

A new hybrid membrane was prepared by a facile method based on a highly luminescent lanthanide coordination polymer and agarose. The soft membrane was characterized by FT-IR, PXRD, SEM and luminescence. It is found that the soft membrane is a highly selective and sensitive sensor, among 19 metal ion solutions of Fe(3+), Mg(2+), Li(+), Ca(2+), Zn(2+), Cu(2+), Ba(2+), Mn(2+), Ru(3+), Cr(3+), Ag(+), Sr(2+), Cd(2+), Na(+), Ni(2+), Pb(2+), Fe(2+), Hg(2+) and Ca(2+), only Fe(3+) quench the luminescence.