A coordination driven 'heat-set' Zr-gel: efficient fluorophore probe for selective detection of Fe³⁺ and nitrofuran-based antibiotics and smart approach for UV protection.

Abstract

Nature creates definite architecture with fluorescence capabilities and superior visual adaptation in many organisms, <i>e.g.</i>, cephalopods, which differentiates them from their surroundings in the context of colour and texture that allows them to use this in defence, communication, and reproduction. Inspired by nature, we have designed a coordination polymer gel (CPG)-based luminescent soft material where the photophysical properties of the material can be tuned using a low molecular weight gelator (LMWG) with chromophoric functionalities. Herein, a water-stable coordination polymer gel-based luminescent sensor was created using zirconium oxychloride octahydrate as a metal source and H₃TATAB (4,4',4''-((1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triyl)tris(azanediyl))tribenzoic acid) as a LMWG. The tripodal carboxylic acid gelator H₃TATAB with a triazine backbone induces rigidity in the coordination polymer gel network structure along with the unique photoluminescent properties. The xerogel material can selectively detect Fe³⁺ and nitrofuran-based antibiotics (<i>i.e.</i>, NFT) in aqueous medium through luminescent 'turn-off' phenomena. This material is a potent sensor because of the ultrafast detection of the targeted analytes (Fe³⁺ and NFT), with consistent efficacy in quenching activity up to five consecutive cycles. More interestingly, colorimetric, portable handy paper strip, thin film-based smart detection approaches (under an ultraviolet (UV) source) were introduced to make this material a viable sensor probe in real-time applications. In addition, we developed a facile method to synthesize CPG-polymer composite material that can be utilized as a transparent thin film to protect against UV radiation (200-360 nm), with approximately 99% absorption efficacy.