Efficient antibiotics, small organic molecules and inorganic anions detection with a fluorescent Ni(II) coordination polymer based multiple sensor system

As a hotspot issue of global concern, the abuse of environmental and biological related molecules, including antibiotics, small organic molecules and inorganic anions poses a severe threat to the biological health and ecological environment. Accurate and effective monitoring of these species is of great significance. In this study, one novel nickel(II)-based coordination polymer [Ni(H2edda)2(Hbmoe)2] (Ni-CP) has been successfully designed and synthesized by using the mixed ligands 5,5′-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(oxy)) diisophthalic acid (H4edda) and 1,1′-bis(1H-benzimidazolyl) oxydiethane (bmoe). Significantly, this framework reveals great thermal and chemical stability and can retain its structural integrity when immersed in water or even in a certain acid/base aqueous solution (pH = 2-13) for a period of time. As expected, this material also exhibits strong fluorescence. Further investigations indicate that as-synthesized Ni-CP can be served as a multi-responsive sensing platform for the highly selective and sensitive detection of nitrofurazone (NFZ), acetylacetone (ACAC), MnO4− and Cr(VI) in aqueous media. The mechanisms for fluorescence quenching have been disclosed through thorough experimental and computational investigations.