Photoluminescent Properties of Tb-UiO-66 Metal–Organic Framework Analogues

Abstract

Three new analogues of Tb-UiO-66 with various functional groups (−F, −Br, −NH2) on the terephthalic acid linker of the metal–organic framework (MOF) are synthesized and characterized. The photoluminescent properties of these analogues, as well as Tb-UiO-66 and Tb-UiO-66-(OH)2, are studied and correlated to the calculated energies for the triplet (T1) states of each linker. The results show that the addition of electron withdrawing groups, such as −F and −Br, lead to higher T1 energies, resulting in quantum yields in the range of 6–31%. The addition of electron donating groups, on the other hand, lowers the T1 energy of the organic linker and inhibits energy transfer such that emission is not observed.