Hydrazone connected stable luminescent covalent-organic polymer for ultrafast detection of nitro-explosives

Abstract

Developing promising luminescent probes for the selective sensing of nitro-explosives remains a challenging issue. Porous luminescent covalent-organic polymers are one of the excellent sensing probes for trace hazardous materials. Herein, fluorescent monomers 1,1,2,2-tetrakis(4-formyl-(1,1′-biphenyl))ethane (TFBE) and 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid trihydrazide (BTCH) were selected to build a novel hydrazone connected stable luminescent covalent-organic polymer (H-COP) of high stability by typical Schiff-base reaction. The N2sorption study, BET surface area analysis, and TGA profile indicate the porosity and stability of thisH-COPmaterial. Such properties of theH-COPmaterial enable a unique sensing platform for nitro-explosives with great sensitivity (Ksv ∼ 106M) and selectivity up to μM. This polymer material shows attractive selectivity and sensitivity towards phenolic nitro-explosives and other common explosives among earlier reported COP-based sensors.