A novel fluorescence sensor for sensitive detection of zearalenone using a polyvinylpyrrolidone-modified Zr(IV)-based metal-organic framework

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a mycotoxin that is a potential threat to food safety and human health. Therefore, there is a need for sensitive and convenient methods to detect ZEN in food samples. Zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs) are considered one of the most robust water-stable MOFs, with diverse luminescent organic ligands and tunable porosity, render them promising candidates for fluorescence sensors. In this work, we have developed a fluorescence sensor for ZEN detection based on Polyvinylpyrrolidone-modified Zr-MOF (PVP-UiO-67), by finely adjusting the pore size of the Zr-MOF family. The incorporation of PVP into UiO-67 noticeably enhances its water dispersibility and stability. Remarkably, the fluorescence of PVP-UiO-67 is selectively and sensitively quenched by ZEN, offering a detection limit as low as 7.44 nM and a linear response ranging from 0.016 to 3.14 μM. The potential sensing mechanisms associated with PVP-UiO-67 have further research, suggesting that the quenching process may be a synergistic effect of dynamic and static quenching and inner filter effect. This work validates the prospective utility of PVP-UiO-67 as an emergent fluorescence sensor for the detection of ZEN in real-world samples.