Luminescent lanthanide nanocomposites in thermometry: Chemistry of dopant ions and host matrices

Crystalline metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are formed by reticular synthesis, which creates strong bonds between inorganic and organic units. Careful selection of MOF constituents can yield crystals of ultrahigh porosity and high thermal and chemical stability. These characteristics allow the interior of MOFs to be chemically altered for use in gas separation, gas storage, and catalysis, among other applications. The precision commonly exercised in their chemical modification and the ability to expand their metrics without changing the underlying topology have not been achieved with other solids. MOFs whose chemical composition and shape of building units can be multiply varied within a particular structure already exist and may lead to materials that offer a synergistic combination of properties.

Many studies have shown how pigments and internal nanostructures generate color in nature. External surface structures can also influence appearance, such as by causing multiple scattering of light (structural absorption) to produce a velvety, super black appearance. Here we show that feathers from five species of birds of paradise (Aves: Paradisaeidae) structurally absorb incident light to produce extremely low-reflectance, super black plumages. Directional reflectance of these feathers (0.05–0.31%) approaches that of man-made ultra-absorbent materials. SEM, nano-CT, and ray-tracing simulations show that super black feathers have titled arrays of highly modified barbules, which cause more multiple scattering, resulting in more structural absorption, than normal black feathers. Super black feathers have an extreme directional reflectance bias and appear darkest when viewed from the distal direction. We hypothesize that structurally absorbing, super black plumage evolved through sensory bias to enhance the perceived brilliance of adjacent color patches during courtship display.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) or porous coordination polymers (PCPs) are open, crystalline supramolecular coordination architectures with porous facets. These chemically tailorable framework materials are the subject of intense and expansive research, and are particularly relevant in the fields of sensory materials and device engineering. As the subfield of MOF-based sensing has developed, many diverse chemical functionalities have been carefully and rationally implanted into the coordination nanospace of MOF materials. MOFs with widely varied fluorometric sensing properties have been developed using the design principles of crystal engineering and structure-property correlations, resulting in a large and rapidly growing body of literature. This work has led to advancements in a number of crucial sensing domains, including biomolecules, environmental toxins, explosives, ionic species, and many others. Furthermore, new classes of MOF sensory materials utilizing advanced signal transduction by devices based on MOF photonic crystals and thin films have been developed. This comprehensive review summarizes the topical developments in the field of luminescent MOF and MOF-based photonic crystals/thin film sensory materials.