A highly stable Cd( ii)-based metal–organic framework was successfully obtained. It shows a highly selective sensing effect not only towards organic pollution molecule, nitrobenzene, via a strong quenching effect, but also to an inorganic Tb( iii) ion by a strong green emission effect.
A Cd( ii)-based metal–organic framework, [Cd 2(DPDC) 2(BTB)] ∞ ( Cd-MOF, DPDC = 2,2′-diphenyldicarboxylate and BTB = 1,4-bis(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)butane) was successfully constructed via a hydrothermal reaction. Structural analysis shows that the synthesized Cd-MOF is a three-dimensional (3D) architecture crystallized in the hexagonal system with a chiral space group P6 1. Powder X-ray diffraction experiments and thermogravimetric analysis reveal that the constructed Cd-MOF has a high chemical and thermal stability. A study of additional mechanical properties indicates that it exhibits a moderate stiffness with the average values of Young's modulus ( E) and H as 11.3(2) and 0.9(7) GPa, respectively. The luminescence properties of the Cd-MOF were further studied. The result shows that it could be an effective sensor to the organic nitrobenzene molecule via a strong quenching effect, and also to the inorganic Tb( iii) ion by a strong green emission effect. Moreover, when loading bimetal ions (Eu( iii) and Tb( iii)) into the Cd-MOF/methanol suspension, tunable visible luminescence can also be achieved by carefully adjusting the excitation wavelengths.