Mixed-lanthanoid metal-organic framework for ratiometric cryogenic temperature sensing

A ratiometric thermometer based on a mixed-metal Ln(III) metal-organic framework is reported that has good sensitivity in a wide temperature range from 4 to 290 K and a quantum yield of 22% at room temperature. The sensing mechanism in the europium-doped compound Tb0.95Eu0.05HL (H4L = 5-hydroxy-1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic acid) is based not only on phonon-assisted energy transfer from Tb-III to Eu-III centers, but also on phonon-assisted energy migration between neighboring Tb-III ions. It shows good performance in a wide temperature range, especially in the range 4-50 K, reaching a sensitivity up to 31% K-1 at 4 K.