Highly effective heterogeneous chemosensors of luminescent silica@coordination polymer core-shell micro-structures for metal ion sensing

Heterogeneous solid sensors are regarded as promising next-generation sensor due to their excellent chemical stability, low contamination, and excellent recyclability, despite their low sensitivity and weak signal. The dispersity and signals specifically from the exterior of solid sensors are critical aspects which define the sensing sensitivity and selectivity. A novel strategy for the preparation of ideal heterogeneous sensors based upon luminescent lanthanide coordination polymers (LnCP) has been demonstrated. Ideal heterogeneous sensors are systematically achieved by producing the sensors in small, uniform, and thin core-shell particles (silica@LnCP, Ln = Eu, Tb). Eventually, we found that the extremely small amount of well-structured silica@LnCP microsphere, less than ca. 1/400 compared to the amount of several known coordination polymer-based sensors, was sufficient to achieve a reliable Cu₂₊ sensing with even much greater sensitivity (ca. 550% improvement).