A new zinc-organic framework with 1D channel for constructing a ratiometric Al-selective sensor and four inputs INHIBIT logic gate.

To develop Al fluorescent sensor is significant because the abnormal levels of Al in environment may pose great threat to human body. Herein, a novel metal-organic framework {Zn(Dpada)(Imdba)·HO} (Dpada = 3, 6-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl) pyridazine and Imdba = 2, 2'-iminodibenzoic acid), named Zn-MOF, has been architected with one-dimensional channel under hydrothermal conditions. Zn-MOF exhibits good thermal and solvent stability and can also keep structural integrity over the pH range of 5.0 - 9.0. Fluorescent experiments show that Zn-MOF has high selectivity and sensitivity towards Al via ratiometric fluorescence signal changes (F/F) and the detection limit is evaluated to be 0.69 μM. In addition, Zn-MOF performs good recyclability in sensing of Al with at least 5 cycles. Besides, an INHIBIT logic gate has been constructed with chemical ions (Al, Cr, Fe and Hg) as input signals and emission ratio (F/F) as output signal. Significantly, Zn-MOF can be applied to tracing Al using real water samples, presenting great potential in water quality monitoring application.