Double-emitting lanthanide metal–organic frameworks composed of Eu/Tb doping and ratiometric fluorescence detection of nitrofurazone.

[Display omitted] • Composition of dual-emitting fluorescent probes was achieved by utilizing Eu and Tb as bimetallic centers. • First proposed dual-emission ratio sensor constructed with diaminoterephthalic acid. • Emission color conversion by adjusting the doping ratio of Eu and Tb. • The probe enables ratiometric sensing of furacilin and has excellent sensitivity and low detection limits. Lanthanide metal–organic frameworks (LnMOFs) have substantial potential in luminescence due to their unique antenna effect. Nevertheless, the single emission is susceptible to pseudo-signals caused by external environmental conditions, which significantly threaten the accurate measurement of the concentration. In this case, we prepared a dual-emission fluorescent probe {Eu x Tb 1-x (NH 2 -BDC) 3 (DMF) 4 ·2DMF} ∞ (NH 2 -BDC = Diaminoterephthalic acid, DMF = N , N -dimethylformamide). The stable dual-emission signal provides a superior signal output for detecting nitrofurazone (NFZ), which is detected by the probe with excellent fluorescence for 0–10 μM NFZ. In the investigation of the detection mechanism, it is speculated that NFZ incorporates with probe to generate a novel complex. Furthermore, The UV absorption curves of the novel complexes and NFZ overlap extensively with those of the probe. The addition of NFZ attenuates the characteristic luminescence of Eu and Tb by competing for the absorption of the excitation light of the probe. The probe has exhibits rapid response, excellent sensitivity, visual detection and a meagre detection limit (LOD = 0.013 μ M) for the detection of NFZ. This work not only broadens the application of LnMOFs in the field of ratiometric detection but also provides a favorable fluorescent probe for the quantitative detection of NFZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]