ERROR 1
ERROR 1
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
Password and Confirm password must match.
If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)
ERROR 2
ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.
These neat, rectangular metal-organic framework (MOF) crystals fluoresce bright red under ultraviolet light thanks to the rare earth metals embedded in the crystal structure. And that’s not all they can do—when the crystals are cooled with liquid nitrogen to 77 K, the fluorescence color turns from red to hot pink. Muhammad Abbas, a PhD student in Kenneth Balkus’s lab at the University of Texas at Dallas, is exploring the relationship between the elemental makeup of rare earth MOFs and their color-changing fluorescence. MOFs made with europium give off red light when they fluoresce. If the MOF contains a bit of another rare earth element such as terbium, the metal ions can undergo an energy transfer that changes the fluorescence wavelength. The energy transfer—and therefore the color change—is sensitive to temperature, which could make the MOFs useful as thermal sensors.
Submitted by Muhammad Abbas. Follow him on Twitter @MAbbas003
Do science. Take pictures. Win money. Enter our photo contest here.
Join the conversation
Contact the reporter
Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication
Engage with us on Twitter