Facile and rapid fabrication of nanostructured lanthanide coordination polymers as selective luminescent probes in aqueous solution

Nanoscale Tb-active coordination polymers Tb(BTC)(H2O)6 were facilely, rapidly and environmentally-friendly fabricated at room temperature. The structures of the samples were confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction and elemental analyses, and the morphologies were characterized by SEM. The studies of the photoluminescence properties reveal that these nanostructured coordination polymers exhibit green emission, corresponding to the 5D4 → 7FJ transitions of the Tb3+ ions under UV light excitation, which represents highly selective and sensitive sensing for metal ions and acetone molecules in aqueous solution, and the probable sensing mechanisms were discussed.