AIE-based cyclodextrin metal–organic frame material for fluorescence detection of nitrofuran and tetracycline antibiotics in aqueous solution

The problem of antibiotic residues is very serious and is harmful to the ecological environment and the human body. We have developed a method for the rapid detection of antibiotics in water samples. Firstly, we prepared a fluorescent material (TPE@CLMOF) with cyclodextrin cross-linked MOF (CLMOF) and tetraphenylethylene (TPE) using a simple way. Due to diphenyl carbonate cross-linking, the fluorescent MOF can glow stably in water. Compared with TPE (40.1%), the absolute quantum yield of TPE@CLMOF increases to 63.2%. The fluorescence of TPE@CLMOF can be selectively quenched by Nitrofurans (NFs) and Tetracyclines (TCs) antibiotics in water. The detection limits of nitrofurazone, nitrofurantoin and chlortetracycline are 0.11, 0.13 and 0.16 μM, respectively. We have studied the adsorption of nitrofurazone, nitrofurantoin and chlortetracycline in TPE@CLMOF and the Langmuir adsorption model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model were established. The maximum adsorption capacity is 223, 209 and 185 mg g−1, respectively. We also proposed a dual quenching mechanism of electron transfer and internal filtration effect, which is verified by quantum chemical calculations and experiments. Finally, the TPE@CLMOF was successfully used as a fluorescent sensor for the determination of antibiotic spiked honey samples.