Luminescent porous organic polymer nanotubes for highly selective sensing of H2S

Abstract

In this study, we synthesize a luminescent porous organic polymer nanotube (PNT-1) through copolymerization of the monomers 1,3,5-tris-(3-bromo-phenyl)-[1,3,5]triazine (TBT) and 2,6-dibromopyridine (2,6-DP) by Ni-catalyzed Yamamoto reaction. Results indicate that PNT-1 exhibits high luminescence intensity, stability and reusability, and it can be used as an efficient luminescent probe for sensitively and selectively sensing H₂S. Furthermore, we also use UV-absorption as well as EDS and XPS spectra to further explore the luminescence quenching mechanism of PNT-1 as a luminescent probe for sensing H₂S. All the results reveal that the formation of N–S bond between PNT-1 and H₂S makes the electron in PNT-1 more stable and therefore leads to the luminescence quenching effect of PNT-1 for sensing H₂S. Moreover, we also find that PNT-1 as a luminescent probe is still applicable for sensing H₂S in vitro assay system simulated using PBS buffer solution.