A long-lived photoluminescent silver nanocluster-infused silver terephthalate metal organic framework with antibacterial and biofilm inhibition activity: a high functional resource

Abstract

Functional materials with long-lived luminescence are extremely valuable due to their vast assortment of applications in optical devices, especially in bioimaging, sensors, security systems and other applications. A long-lived photoluminescent silver nanocluster-infused silver terephthalate metal organic framework (MOF) exhibiting green emission with a longer luminescent lifetime of 3.91 ms (ATP) was developed by a very facile and environmentally friendly method (room temperature, aqueous medium). The long-range array of silver nanoclusters deciphered from HRTEM and STEM images, both as embedded and as percolating out of the silver terephthalate MOF structure together with terephthalic acid ligand, primarily contributes to the longer lifetime of ATP. More interestingly, ATP is very photostable (for several months), which brings forward the scope of several customizable luminescent nanocomposite materials: films, hydrogels, thin film coatings, etc. Model systems were formulated to validate the luminescent property and customizability using base matrices poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyvinyl alcohol and polycaprolactone. The intrinsic antibacterial and biofilm inhibition property of ATP befits it for antibacterial applications.