A moisture-stable organosulfonate-based metal–organic framework with intrinsic self-trapped white-light emission

Abstract

Weakly-coordinating organosulfonate linkers are significantly less studied in MOFs, but promising in terms of enhancing the structural strain of SBUs owing to their versatile coordination towards metals. Herein, we have successfully synthesized a porous, moisture-resistant organosulfonate-based MOF with structurally deformable 1D zigzag [CdCl]_nⁿ⁺ chains. The material is one rare MOF exhibiting intrinsic broadband white-light emission with an external quantum efficiency exceeding 10%, probably owing to the strong electron–phonon coupling in the orgnosulfonate-bridged deformable inorganic units. Moreover, the porosity residing in the MOF allows for facile, controllable cation exchange to introduce a second emissive center (e.g. Mn²⁺), which is an excellent supplement to the deficiency of the pristine MOF and achieves a high color rendering index of 92.