NO₂-LMOFs

Nitroaromatic compounds constitute a class of known environmental pollutants due to their potent toxicity and carcinogenicity in addition to their explosive properties which pose a risk for safety and national security. Up to now, nitroaromatics are determined by the use of sensitive yet costly analytical techniques (IMS, SERS, PDMS etc.) and the in-field detection is performed with the use of trained canines. Consequently, the development of efficient and user-friendly chemical sensors for nitroaromatics is of great importance in order to achieve effective monitoring of their environmental distribution as well as rapid and exact in-field detection. The project NO2-LMOFs aims at the rational design, synthesis and study of porous Luminescent Metal-Organic Frameworks (LMOFs) possessing favorable features to function as optical sensors for nitroaromatic analytes in aqueous environments and/or in the gas phase. To accomplish this goal, we will synthesize MOFs using strongly fluorescent bridging
ligands (fluorophores) bearing appropriate functional groups in order to obtain materials with pores lined with complexing units suitable for encapsulating nitroaromatics. Interaction between the porous framework and guest molecules will lead to electronic perturbation producing changes in the MOF’s emission characteristics (quenching, enhancement and/or wavelength shift) and may also produce measurable changes in its electrochemical properties. This project is anticipated to result in new luminescent MOF materials equipped with the ability to selectively detect nitroaromatic analytes through variations in their emission and/or electrochemical properties. We expect that the new LMOFs will show, in addition to their sensing ability, air and water stability and reusability so that they can form the basis of future materials for the development of sensory systems for in field applications.
This project is funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I).