Development of a novel (Eu (III) post-functionalized zirconium-based metal-organic framework) dual-emission ratiometric fluorescent probe for rapid and highly selective detection of Pb2+ and Cu2+

At present, with the development of society, different enterprises inevitably produce industrial wastewater and waste residue containing lead and copper. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a rapid and simple method to detect lead and copper in pollutants. In this paper, a metal-organic framework (MOF) doped with Eu(Ⅲ) (Eu³⁺/UiO-66-NH₂) was successfully prepared by one-pot hydrothermal technique. The probe is capable of detecting Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ with high sensitivity. Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ have detection ranges of 5–340 μM and 0.01–200 μM, respectively. The detection limit for Pb²⁺ was as low as 1.01 μM, and the detection limit for Cu²⁺ was 6.46 μM. This approach has a good detection performance when compared to the method described in the literature. It shows that the prepared sensor has great potential in the detection of actual lead and copper, and provides a practical and effective method for rapid and accurate detection of heavy metal ions.