The
construction of a highly luminescent, stable, and target-insensitive
internal reference signal is highly significant in ratiometric and
color tonality applications. Improvement of the antenna effect, the
efficient mechanism that enhances luminescence emission via sensitization,
is an effective route to obtain bright luminescence. Additionally,
manipulation of the crystal structure and morphology is the key issue
to control the reactivity, especially in metal–organic frameworks
(MOFs). In the present work, a novel internal reference red emitter
of Eu/Zn bimetal biligand MOF (UoZ-5) was synthesized
and used as an internal reference signal. A dual-antenna effect, from
triplet states (T1) of the ligands to 5Do of
the Eu3+ ion, was observed and explained on the basis of
the energy levels. With UoZ-5 serving as the internal
reference, blue-emitting carbon quantum dots (CQDs) selective for
Ag+ ions and a nonfluorescent composite, CQDs@Ag+, serving
as a selective probe for vitamin B1, a color tonality-based platform
and ratiometric analysis were developed.