Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 for ratiometric fluorescence sensing tetracyclines in environmental water based on AIE effects

A ratiometric fluorimetric sensing strategy with Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) has been developed for the analysis of tetracycline (TC) in environmental water samples. ZIF-8 with polyhedral structure was synthesized at room temperature exhibiting blue fluorescence at 445 nm. Especially, the as-prepared ZIF-8 could conduct the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect in the presence of TC through electrostatic, hydrogen bond, π-π stacking, and coordination interactions. As a result, a strong yellow-green fluorescence appeared and a new fluorescence peak at 505 nm was observed, although the initial fluorescence peak at 445 nm of ZIF-8 was almost unchanged. A ZIF-8-based fluorimetric platform was thereby designed for sensing TC by using ZIF-8 as the fluorescent probe with the peak at 445 nm as the reference and the one at 505 nm as the changing signal, which should increase with the increasing concentrations of TC. Moreover, the quantitative analysis of TC could be carried out through the ratiometric peak intensities of F505/F445, with a detection limit as low as 14.7 nM. Additionally, the ratiometric fluorescent analysis method was successfully employed to detect TC in environmental water samples, indicating that ZIF-8 might be a good luminescent sensor for probing the pollutants in the environmental water.