Surfactant-assisted synthesis of lanthanide metal-organic framework nanorods and their fluorescence sensing of nitroaromatic explosives

Nanocrystals of [Eu(2)(BDC)(3)(H(2)O)(2)](n) (1), a lanthanide-containing metal-organic framework (MOF) with a two-dimensional layer structure, were synthesized by using a surfactant-assisted hydothermal method. Nanorods with different sizes were prepared in the presence of a cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide, depending on various reaction times. To demonstrate the ability of 1 nanorods for detection of nitroaromatic explosives, the fluorescence quenching and fluorescence titration experiments were carried out. Fluorescence of 1 nanorods was found to be highly sensitive to the nitroaromatics such as 2-nitrotoluene, 4-nitrotoluene, 2,4-dinitrotoluene, and 2,6-dinitrotoluene, suggesting that lanthanide-containing MOF nanocrystals can be excellent candidates for the rapid detection of nitroaromatic explosives. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.