Ratiometric luminescent simultaneous sensing of aristolochic acids (I–IV) by a novel metal-organic framework and its nanowire

Aristolochic acids (AAs), which are a group of nitrophenanthrene carboxylic acids formed by Aristolochia plant, have become an increasing serious threat to humans due to their nephrotoxicity and carcinogenicity. Fast and accurate approaches capable of simultaneous sensing of aristolochic acids (I–IV) are vital to avoid intake of such compounds. In this research, the novel ratiometric fluorescence zinc metal-organic framework and its nanowire have been prepared. The two different coordination modes (tetrahedral configuration and twisted triangular bipyramidal configuration) within zinc metal-organic framework lead to the significant double emissions. The ratiometric fluorescence approach based on nanowire provides a broader concentration range (3.00 × 10 −7 ~ 1.00 × 10 −4 M) and lower limit of detection (3.70 × 10 −8 M) than that based on zinc metal-organic framework (1.00 × 10 −6 ~1.00 × 10 −4 M, 5.91 × 10 −7 M). The RSDs of the results are in the range 1.4–3.5% (nanowire). The density functional theory calculations and UV–Vis absorption verify that the sensing mechanism is due to charge transfer and energy transfer. Excellent spiked recoveries for AAs(I–IV) in soil and water support that nanowire is competent to simultaneously detect these targets in real samples, and the proposed approach has potential as a fluorescence sensing platform for the simultaneous detection of AAs (I–IV) in complex systems. Graphical Abstract