Amorphous amEu-NH2BDC and amTb-NH2BDC as ratio fluorescence probes for smartphone-integrated naked eye detection of bacillus anthracis biomarker.

The abnormal concentration of anthrax spore biomarker 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (2,6-DPA) will seriously affect public health. Therefore, a sensitive and rapid assay for 2,6-DPA monitoring is of vital importance. In this work, novel nano-sized amorphous Eu-NH2BDC (amEu-NH2BDC) and amorphous Tb-NH2BDC (amTb-NH2BDC) metal organic frameworks are prepared by adjusting the ratio of metal and ligand, respectively. Both of them exhibit highly sensitive and selective ratiometric fluorescence detection for 2,6-DPA with wider linear range and lower detection limit in aqueous solutions and human serum. Attributed to the coordination effect of 2,6-DPA in triggering the characteristic fluorescence emissions of Eu3+or Tb3+ by replacing coordinated solvent molecules, as evidenced by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, the fluorescence lifetimes analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, density functional theory (DFT) simulations and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In addition, the amEu-NH2BDC or amTb-NH2BDC loaded paper-based microsensors are constructed for real-time and sensitive detection of 2,6-DPA and coupled with a smartphone-assisted visual portable device.