18β-Glycyrrhetinic acid derivative-based metallo-hydrogels with highly selective and sensitive for histidine detection

•Novel Metallo-hydrogels possessing remarkable pH stability and excellent thermodynamics stability were prepared by combining 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid derivative with rare earth metal ions (Ce3+, Tb3+, Eu3+, and La3+), respectively.•The preparation of these Metallo-hydrogels was simple and rapid and the minimum gel concentrations of these hydrogels were in the range of 1.25–1.30 wt%, which were nearly reach the level of the reported super hydrogels.•The GA-O-09/Eu3+ and GA-O-09/La3+ hydrogels detected Histidine with highly selectivity and sensitivity in a facile and convenient method.