In the present work,
for the first time, the
in situ
formation of blue
emissive carbon dots (bCDs) and encapsulation
into the pores of chromium-based metal–organic frameworks (Cr-MOFs)
are described. The luminescent bCDs via
in situ
process
are formed and entrapped inside the pores of Cr-MOFs to form a nanocomposite
of bCDs@Cr-MOFs. The bCDs@Cr-MOFs showed a strong broad blue emission
at 420 nm (excited at 310 nm), which corresponds to both, the ligand
(2-aminoterephthalic acid) in the Cr-MOF and the entrapped bCDs. This
is assigned for the entrapping of bCDs in the pores of the MOFs. Additionally,
transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed two types of
particles, 150 rod-like shapes for Cr-MOF and 5–10 nm spherical
shapes assigned for the presence of bCDs. The bCDs alone (without
Cr-MOF) showed no selectivity, and their emission was quenched by
different biomolecules and ions, such as ascorbic acid, uric acid,
Fe
3+
, Cu
2+
, and Hg
2+
. The selectivity
of bCDs toward uric acid was increased dramatically when they were
encapsulated in the Cr-MOF. The linear range for uric acid was 20–50
μM, and the LOD was measured as 1.3 μM. Spike recoveries
for the detection of uric acid in serum samples were between 94 and
108%. The relative standard deviation (RSD,
n
= 3)
at each concentration value was less than 2%. The results showed high
ruggedness and robustness of the assay due to its high shelf-life
stability of probe (four weeks), water stability, and long working
pH range. Validation experiments showed that the established MOF-based
sensing system is appropriate for uric acid detection in real samples.