Construction of a flexible covalent organic framework based on triazine units with interesting photoluminescent properties for sensitive and selective detection of picric acid

. The comparison between flexible DTZ-COF and a non-flexible 2D COF (TPT-TPT-COF) with a similar framework suggests that the introduction of flexible building units can indeed improve the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency. The π-electron deficient DTZ-COF has excellent fluorescence performance and exhibits unique solvent responsiveness, such as fluorescence enhancement in aromatic solvents, and fluorescence quenching in alcohol and water. As a chemical sensor for detection of picric acid (2,4,6-trinitrophenol, TNP), the efficient fluorescence quenching involving both static and dynamic behaviors ensures high selectivity and sensitivity (ppb level).