Lanthanides post-functionalized nanocrystalline metal–organic frameworks for tunable white-light emission and orthogonal multi-readout thermometry

Abstract

We demonstrate tunable white-light emission and multi-readout thermometry in two respective nanocrystalline luminescent metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), which are prepared via postsynthetic functionalization with lanthanide cations of a robust UiO type MOF bearing the 2,2′-bipyridyl moiety (UiO-67-bpydc, 1). The white-light emitting framework Eu³⁺@1 can be conveniently applied as a thin film onto a commercial UV-LED chip for practical white lighting applications. The multi-readout orthogonal thermometry is illustrated in relation to the emission intensity ratio as well as the decay time and luminescence color of Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺@1 nanocrystals. This work highlights the opportunity for designing white-light emitters and nanothermometers based on lanthanide functionalized MOFs.