Description
Investigators explored the use of metal-organic framework (MOF) materials as a means to not only sensitize lanthanides in the Near-IR (NIR), but also to optimize their excitation and emissive properties. MOFs are a relatively new class of porous materials consisting of metal ions or clusters that are linked together into periodic two or three dimensional lattices with high levels of organization via multitopic organic ligands. The metals and ligands can be chosen to impart specific function to the MOF. As a class of materials, MOFs have several features that could be synergistically advantageous in the context of sensitizing lanthanides. First, MOFs can have rigid architectures in which the metals and ligands are well-organized and constrained in space allowing a rational control of the properties. Second, MOFs can adopt a variety of topologies and in some cases the topological features of a MOF can be designed in an a priori fashion. Third, multiple metal MOFs can be targeted, allowing for incorporation of several different luminescent lanthanides in a single material. Investigators demonstrate how the first two features listed above can impact lanthanide sensitization in the NIR. Specifically, they show how subtle modifications of the MOF architecture result in dramatic and useful spectral changes.
IP Status
https://patents.google.com/patent/US8617421B2
