An ultrathin 2D Yb(III) metal-organic frameworks with strong electrochemiluminescence as a on-off-on platform for detection of picric acid and berberine chloride form

To investigate the strong electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of ultrathin two dimensional metal-organic frameworks (2D MOFs) is crucial. In this work, we reported the strong ECL behavior of 2D Yb-MOFs, which exhibited thickness-dependent ECL. The thinner the 2D Yb-MOFs, the stronger the ECL signals. The corresponding ECL emission mechanism was investigated in detail, which was ascribed to the thinner 2D Yb-MOF with larger specific surface area, provided more luminophores, better electronic conductivity and superior fluorescence quantum yield, which yielded a higher ECL intensity. Considering the excellent ECL performances above, the ultrathin 2D Yb-MOF-1 was selected as new ECL emitter so that a sensor could be fabricated to realize the on-off-on detection of picric acid (PA) and berberine chloride form (BCF). The proposed sensor strategy exhibited a good analytical performance, where the linear range for PA detection was from 0.1 mu M to 1 mu M with a limit of 81.3 nM, and that for BCF detection from 0.05 mu M to 1 mu M with a limit of 36.5 nM. This study carves out a novel avenue for exploiting excellent ECL materials.

Automated summary

This study explores the strong electrochemiluminescence behavior of ultrathin two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks, showing that thinner 2D Yb-MOFs exhibit stronger ECL signals. The ECL intensity is enhanced by increasing the specific surface area and fluorescence quantum yield. The ultrathin 2D Yb-MOF-1 is selected as a new ECL emitter for picric acid and berberine chloride form detection, demonstrating promising analytical performance.