Advances on constructing functional reticular materials for efficient determination of radionuclides

Abstract

The accurate and rapid determination of radionuclides has become an imperative requirement in environmental monitoring and nuclear safety management, driven by their chemical and radiotoxic threats to ecosystems. Luminescent reticular materials have emerged as promising sensing platforms owing to their ordered porous architectures and precisely tailorable host-guest interaction dynamics. Nevertheless, unmodified reticular frameworks frequently suffer from insufficient recognition specificity toward target radionuclides, resulting in compromised detection sensitivity and selectivity. To address these limitations, intensive research efforts have been dedicated to engineering functionalized reticular systems through rational design principles. This review systematically examines cutting-edge strategies for constructing high-performance luminescent materials, commencing with an analysis of radionuclide contamination mechanisms and the fundamental advantages of reticular scaffolds in photoluminescent sensing applications. Subsequently, we critically evaluate three predominant functionalization methodologies of ligand tailoring, post-synthetic modification and blending method. Throughout the discussion, we emphasize the structure-performance correlations in achieving selective recognition and environmental stability enhancement.