A rapidly-reversible absorptive and emissive vapochromic Pt(II) pincer-based chemical sensor

M. J. Bryant, J. M. Skelton, L. E. Hatcher, C. Stubbs, E. Madrid, A. R. Pallipurath, L. H. Thomas, C. H. Woodall, J. Christensen, S. Fuertes, T. P. Robinson, C. M. Beavers, S. J. Teat, M. R. Warren, F. Pradaux-Caggiano, A. Walsh, F. Marken, D. R. Carbery, S. C. Parker, N. B. McKeown, R. Malpass-Evans, M. Carta and P. R. Raithby ()
Additional contact information
M. J. Bryant: University of Bath, Claverton Down
J. M. Skelton: University of Bath, Claverton Down
L. E. Hatcher: University of Bath, Claverton Down
C. Stubbs: University of Bath, Claverton Down
E. Madrid: University of Bath, Claverton Down
A. R. Pallipurath: University of Bath, Claverton Down
L. H. Thomas: University of Bath, Claverton Down
C. H. Woodall: University of Bath, Claverton Down
J. Christensen: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford
S. Fuertes: University of Bath, Claverton Down
T. P. Robinson: University of Bath, Claverton Down
C. M. Beavers: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
S. J. Teat: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
M. R. Warren: Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
F. Pradaux-Caggiano: University of Bath, Claverton Down
A. Walsh: University of Bath, Claverton Down
F. Marken: University of Bath, Claverton Down
D. R. Carbery: University of Bath, Claverton Down
S. C. Parker: University of Bath, Claverton Down
N. B. McKeown: University of Edinburgh
R. Malpass-Evans: University of Edinburgh
M. Carta: University of Edinburgh
P. R. Raithby: University of Bath, Claverton Down

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Selective, robust and cost-effective chemical sensors for detecting small volatile-organic compounds (VOCs) have widespread applications in industry, healthcare and environmental monitoring. Here we design a Pt(II) pincer-type material with selective absorptive and emissive responses to methanol and water. The yellow anhydrous form converts reversibly on a subsecond timescale to a red hydrate in the presence of parts-per-thousand levels of atmospheric water vapour. Exposure to methanol induces a similarly-rapid and reversible colour change to a blue methanol solvate. Stable smart coatings on glass demonstrate robust switching over 104 cycles, and flexible microporous polymer membranes incorporating microcrystals of the complex show identical vapochromic behaviour. The rapid vapochromic response can be rationalised from the crystal structure, and in combination with quantum-chemical modelling, we provide a complete microscopic picture of the switching mechanism. We discuss how this multiscale design approach can be used to obtain new compounds with tailored VOC selectivity and spectral responses.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01941-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-01941-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01941-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().