Fabrication of ITO glass supported Tb-MOF film for sensing organic solvent

Homogeneous nanosized Tb(BTC)(H2O) MOF was fabricated using sodium acetate, which has basicity (to increase nucleation rate) and capping groups (CH3COO−) (to prevent crystal growth), as modulator. Following the successful preparation of the nanocrystals, an ITO glass-supported Tb-MOF film was prepared by dip-coating. This film exhibited highly sensitive and selective sensing of organic solvents. The probable sensing mechanism is discussed.